Redemption
by Lord Akiyama
Summary: A chance meeting in Midway City leads Shayera Hol on a personal journey to the past. Takes place after "The Cat and The Canary." COMPLETED!
1. Chapter One

Justice League Unlimited

Redemption

by Lord Akiyama

* * *

Author's Note: The events of this story takes place after the episode "The Cat and The Canary." Additionally, all characters are the property of DC Comics and AOL Time Warner. They are in no way being used for profit so please don't sue. And now, on with the show...

* * *

Chapter One 

-

Midway City, Michigan

"I take it you boys are from outta town," the store clerk said in a calm tone.

"What makes you say that, old man," one of the three robbers spoke. He stood his place with a gun pointed at the clerk while the other two plunder the store of money and other valuable necessities. "We could be someone you know and never suspected to commit such crimes."

"Around here, highly doubtful," the clerk said. "If you had lived here for a long while, you'd know better than to try something like this." The gun carrying robber noticed how the clerk, whose arms were raised as ordered earlier, was very confident and sure of himself. Sure enough not to be shaking whatsoever.

"You planning something, old man?" the robber said, moving the gun inches closer to the clerk.

"Wouldn't dream of it," the clerk said, shaking his head. "Just warning you that tonight is not going to turn out to be a good night for you boys, that's all."

"We got everything we need, man," the robber pulling cash from the register said, quickly moving past the clerk from behind. "Let's bolt before the cops arrive."

"I'd say 'Have a good evening,' but I doubt it'll do you boys any good," the clerk commented as he watched the three robbers make for the door, his arms still raised in the air and was as calm as could be.

The robbers paid no attention to the clerk's warning as he hopped into the car. The gun carrying robber slid into the passenger seat, the cash stealing robber in the back, and the third robber driving. "This was a lot easier than we could've hoped, guys," the driver laughed as he key into the ignition. "And they said Midway City's a bad spot to rob."

Just as the driver started to turn the ignition, a large crashed was heard. All three practically hopped out of their seats in terror. They looked forward to see a shadowed figure just jump upward from their view. Smoke was coming from the front as they realized that the engines had been completed smashed.

Thump noises came from the right. Once again, the shadowed figure was completely gone just as they blinked. The cash stealing robber tried to open the door on that side to no avail. "It's jammed!" he cried. The thump noises returned, this time to the left. They turned to see the shadowed figure disappear again. "We're trapped!"

"One of the many disadvantages to using a car when committing a crime, I'm afraid," a proud, strong voice spoke. The robbers turned their attention to the voice. The shadowed figure stood before the smashed engine. And he was carrying a large weapon.

"What the hell is that!" the driver screamed in horror. As if on instinct, the gun carrying robber fired his weapon endlessly without caring to see if the bullets made contact or not. The driver, on the other hand was able to see and sure enough the figure's weapon deflected every single bullet shot at him. "D-don't kill us..." the driver muttered, curling himself up in his seat hoping that the figure wouldn't notice. His fellow robbers followed along.

"It's doubtful he would do such a thing," another voice said. The robbers turned to see a smiling store clerk walk out from the store and up to the figure. "You'd have to be one of those metahumans to be on the receiving end of his beatings." The clerk turned his attention to the figure. "Out-of-towners never seem to learn, do they Hawkman?"

"They keep expecting this fair city to be an easy-pickings version of Gotham," the figure said. Sirens began to be heard as the figure the clerk called Hawkman turned his attention back to the robbers. "I believe you boys have something to belongs to him."

"In a hurry there, Hawkman?" the store clerk asked curiously as he is slowly returned his stolen loot.

"Not really" Hawkman replied. "I think it would be better if these boys learned about the value of returning stolen property before they get any more ideas." The robbers noticed that as the flashing police lights drew nearer, the more they could see of the figure's appearance.

Their eyes widened in fear. The weapon was a giant mace. He was wearing a mask like those superheroes they kept hearing about. And then there was his wings...

-

The Watchtower - Three days later...

He noted that this was one of the few times she ever stepped out of her room that didn't involve getting lunch. He sighed as he watched her staring out upon the view of Earth below. Was she still trying to find herself? Was rejoining the League really the thing she needed to do? So many questions were bottled up inside. He wanted to just fly down the few levels and ask her himself.

"We need to talk," a voice said behind him. The reason why he hadn't talked to her was standing right behind him. He sighed once more and turned to face Mari. His girlfriend. "We need to talk about her now, John." Or so he thought.

"You sure you want to engage in this conversation?" he asked her with a sigh.

"You've been asking me that ever since she rejoined the League, John," Mari said, crossing her arms and keeping her eyes narrow and stern. "Not once have we had a chance to really be together since then and I'm starting to get irked by your constant moping over her."

"Last chance to get out of this conversation, Mari," he said. "There's no changing whatever comes out of my mouth."

"At this point, I'm willing to take that chance," she replied. "This is the fifteenth time I've asked for this conversation and you keep coming up with something to get out of it. I don't care what comes out of that mouth of yours, John Stewart. I want answers. Now."

John sighed as he dropped his head. This was not going to be the easiest conversation for him. Looked to the side as if he could catch a glance of her wings. "Ask away," he finally said.

"I'm just going to get straight to the point," Mari said, taking a couple steps forward. Enough for her to reach out and turn his head to face her dead in the face. "Me or her?"

John always heard about people, mostly females, who would make what was called a puppy dog pout. He never quite understood the meaning of them. Now he did, but he sure as hell didn't know how to do one. Instead, he let the sadness speak through his eyes.

"I don't have a clue," he replied.

"Oh no, that's not an answer, John Stewart," Mari said, clearly getting unhappier with John by the minute. "Its either me or her. I don't want any of this 'I dunno' crap."

"Then you step into my shoes and answer it yourself!" John snapped back. He watched her taken aback before cooling his temper. He sighed once again. "It's just not that simple for me, Mari. I was in love with this woman and she leaves because of what she had done to me, to our comrades, to this planet. I honestly didn't know if I was ever going to see her again. And then you come along. You have the spark, the fire, the energy that had me back on my feet and kicking. I have a blast when I with you, especially when its just the two of us."

"But then she returns..." Mari said, regaining her stern posture.

"And now I'm faced with the question I just can't answer," John said, shaking his head. "You're both incredible women and I care very deeply for the both of you. But I can't just choose one of you without having to feel terrible for breaking the other's heart. And I could end up just depressing myself with the thought of whether or not I made the right choice."

"Yet you seem to be place your attention on her," Mari said.

"If the person you once loved returned practically a shell of their former self, wouldn't you be concerned too?" John asked.

Mari opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped herself. She thought about the question for a moment and then looked to the side. He had a point.

"We're heading down to the surface and we need you both," a voice said behind Mari. The two almost jumped in surprise before turning their attention to the speaker. Batman had just entered the room and Wonder Woman was following behind. "We're also bringing Shayera on this one."

"What for?" Mari asked curiously.

"I don't like it myself," Wonder Woman replied, not caring if Mari was actually against the idea as she was, "but Batman says we need her just in case her mace might come in handy."

"We're going up against something we're unfamiliar with, huh?" John asked.

"A pair of thieves broke into the national bank in Midway City," Batman said, walking over to the railing to see if Shayera was still looking out upon Earth. "According to the police dispatch, they can transform themselves into shadows and blend into the darkness."

"And you're assuming that if the four of us can't find a way to stop them, Hawkgirl's mace might," Mari said, pressing the tablet that transform her into her Vixen costume.

"Better to have her with us instead of finding out after the fact and having to wait for their next hit," Batman replied. "You three get going. I'll talk her into coming."

-

Midway City, Michigan - Five minutes later...

"Keep those lights on the building, boys," the officer said. "We don't wanna give them an opening to escape before he gets here." He sighed as he started digging into his coat pockets for cigarettes. After a minute, his hands were feeling against something, but they weren't a pack of smokes. He pulled out the object to examine it. He chuckled in realization that he made the promise to quit smoking. He removed one of the nicorette gums and placed it in his mouth when three figures approached him. He chuckled some more. "Must be my lucky day," he said. "Seems we captured the attention of the Justice League on this one, boys."

"Are you the officer in charge?" Wonder Woman asked.

"George Emmet," he replied, extended his hand out for a shake, "Midway City Police Commissioner. We figured that by keeping the lights all over this building they wouldn't escape."

"Mind explaining what exactly you have here, sir?" Green Lantern asked.

"Store manager was closing up for the night when he thought something slipped past him and into the bank," Emmet said, turning his gaze upon the building. "He called for a cop just to make sure and moments later you have half the police department trying to figure how to pump lead into a couple of creatures that blend into the shadows. It took a simple flashlight to figure out that light reveals them."

"Seems you have everything under control," Vixen commented, looking upon the highly lit building.

"We've got a friend coming in to bag these boys before the generator on these lights overheat," Emmet said. He stopped for a moment and thought while taking a quick glance at the three heroes he was speaking to. "You know, maybe I should you in touch with him. He seems like the sort to be part of your team."

"He's a costume?" Wonder Woman asked with curiosity.

"If that's the term you heroes use," Emmet chuckled. "He's been around for pretty close to a year now and has done us a lot of good in keeping this city clean. So much so that most of the lawbreakers nowadays are from out of town."

Suddenly, something twirled past them and landed toward the side of the lit building. Everyone turned there attention and noticed a small gap of the building was not lit. And one of the shadows started to run.

"Blast, I thought we covered the entire building," Emmet muttered. "Get extra light over there and keep the other one trapped in quick!" As quickly as it was ordered, additional light was aimed at was previous a shadow gap. "I take it you three about to live up to their names."

"Couldn't have said it any better," Vixen said as she sped after the escaping shadow thief.

"We'll be back to take care of the other thief, sir," Wonder Woman said as she and Green Lantern flew off to join their comrade.

Emmet watched the three heroes at work with a small smile. Moments after the three had disappeared from view, the familiar cheers of his fellow policemen was heard. He looked up to see the all too familiar figure appear in the sky. "Take your time," he muttered, even though he was speaking to himself. "Our guy's here."

"Shayera is standing by at the city limit and I've been following from the rooftops," Batman reported through the communications wire. "I'll try to slow him down in a few blocks. Be ready for anything."

Having activated her cheetah tablet, Vixen was gaining on the shadow thief. What looked like the thief's head turned to see the heroine catching up to him. Suddenly, he dropped and appeared to have seemingly disappeared. Vixen was caught off guard, yet tried to regain her composure so that she could make a complete stop without falling. She looked about to find the shadow thief nowhere in sight.

"I hope you've got eyes that can see, Bats," she said through the communications wire. "He must've slipped into one of the shadows." Without warning, Vixen was socked in the face. Upon landing on the ground, she looked up just as the shadow thief ran past her and turning a corner. "He's on the move and I don't think I can catch up."

The shadow thief cut through many corners and adapted himself into the shadows. He was almost outside the city limits when bright lights appeared before him. The thief stopped in his tracks and covered his eyes for his before trying to see where the light came from. He soon saw the figure of a female standing tall with a mace in one hand. The mace was giving off electrical circuits and shining bright lights in the direction of the thief. The thief also noted her long red hair and the wings on her back.

"I've got him stopped in his tracks," Shayera said through the communications wire. "You might want to get here fast to lock him down, Lantern." She watched as the shadow thief made an attempt at an attack. The electrical circuits gave off a strong discharge that had the him taken aback. He decided to make a run for it. "He's back on the move," Shayera said as she flew off after him, the mace still giving off lighting.

"Stay on him and we'll be there in a minute," Green Lantern said through the wire. "We've got your back, Shayera."

The chase raged on for many blocks and Shayera noticed that she was losing speed. Something needed to happen and fast if there was hope in stopping him. Suddenly, something smashed head on into the thief's face. Shayera slowed to a stop and watched as the thief dropped. She scanned around the body and noticed the head of a mace stuck into the ground. It too was giving off electrical circuits. And it looked so much like her mace.

She was trying to compare the two visually when Lantern and Wonder Woman arrived. They spotted the fallen shadow thief on the ground and were about to ask Shayera what happened when a thump was heard. They looked to see the second shadow thief dropped next to the fallen first. This one tied up and just as knocked out. All three looked up to see a winged figure make his decent to the ground.

"They never learn that running is not such a good idea," the winged stranger said as he picked up his mace. "It causes him more trouble than it is worth." The strange looked up at the Justice League and stopped all together. Three bewildered faces were looking upon him, but there was only one that caught his attention. The red hair, the wings... the green eyes...

Batman and Vixen arrived and they too soon laid eyes upon the winged stranger. He shook himself as best as he could from his trance and broke the silence. "Ah, pardon me," he said as calmly as he could. "I believe you are members of the Justice League... I see." His attention came right back to her. Her face told him everything he needed to know. A surprise that shook every bone in her body.

"Ah, there they are," a familiar voice spoke. The League turned to see Commissioner Emmet appear from behind the stranger. "I was hoping we would catch you before you left. I want you to meet our resident guardian, as it were. The children like to call him 'The Winged Avenger of Midway City.' Though we prefer to keep it simple with Hawkman."

"H-Hawkman?" Wonder Woman managed to say, still bewildered at the sight before her. Another Thanagarian. Another Thanagarian on Earth. And he's a hero?

"Well, how about that," Emmet said as he took another look at the League. "You got yourselves a winged avenger of your own." The other policemen, who were shining lights on the unconscious thieves, also took notice. "Huh, I guess maybe you don't need Hawkman on your force after all."

"I believe they were, uh, unaware of my existence, Emmet," Hawkman said. "In fact, I think they do wish to have a further interest in at least speaking to me."

"Is that so," Emmet said as he studied the League. "Well, just give me a minute with him before you ask your questions. We need to finalize the arrest record."

"I believe they also wish some privacy for our meeting," Hawkman said, his eyes still on her. "Head for the roof of the abandoned apartment building facing the entrance of the city's museum. I will be there shortly."

Batman was the first to break from his bewildered state and check his computerized coordinates of the city. The location wasn't too far away. A good position to see the arrest from. "Fair enough," he said. "Let's go." It took a moment for everyone else to break from their state. Everyone exception Shayera.

Lantern noticed this while the others made for the meeting spot. He placed a hand on her shoulder, capturing her attention. Her eyes... it was a mixture of so many emotions... so many of them were of fear. "Come on," he said. Slowly, Shayera followed as the two made their way to rejoin the others. Even when they landed, Shayera was still in her state of shock.

"Who is he?" Diana said straight out at Shayera. Her state changed from shocked to anger.

It took a moment for Shayera to move at all before shaking her head. "He seems familiar..." she whispered. "... but... but I don't know him..."

"I'm not buying it!" Diana snapped. The others watched as she marched up to Shayera and looked her straight in the eye. "Tell us now who he is and what he is doing here. Is he an agent like you? A spy? Making these people believe that he is some sort of hero before unleashing some sort of armada upon us!"

"Diana!" Batman yelled.

"I don't know..." Shayera said as a tear began to run down her cheek. "You can choose to believe me or not, but I don't know this man!"

"Your distrust in me is completely understandable." Everyone turned to see Hawkman upon the rooftop. No doubt he heard a good deal of what happened. "I would be too if an alien appeared sometime after the passing of an attempted invasion by the very race. If you can, I'd like the chance for us to discuss this without having another soul harmed any further. Whatever questions you have, I will answer."

"Why are you here, then?" Batman quickly asked. He didn't want Diana to explode again and to cause an even bigger scene.

"I heard about the Thanagarian invasion upon this planet and tried to get here as quickly as I could in aiding you," Hawkman replied. "Space travel, as you know, is not quite that simple nor is it fast. I came here just as the invasion was successfully thwarted and the armada left. I laid low for a while before arriving over here as my appearance so soon after the invasion from my race would not result in a more sensible welcome like he just had."

"If you call that sensible," Vixen muttered. Lantern gave her the 'be quiet' look.

"You said you were coming to aid us," Diana said. "Why aid Earth when the invasion is by Thanagarians?"

"I've been exiled from Thanagar," Hawkman replied with a smile, as though he was proud of it. "Despite being an officer of the peace, I broke their laws to the point that my existence was erased from their memory."

Before asking the next question, Batman took note of Hawkman's body language. What he read was that Hawkman kept his attention on Shayera. "You seem to be very keen on our comrade," he said. "What's you relationship to her?" The question caused Shayera is shake some more.

Hawkman's smile dimmed a little, but not by much. "Straight to point, I see," he said, nodding his head. He slowly reached up and removed his helmet. The League looked upon a rather middle-aged man with white streaks upon his brown hair. And a tear running down his cheek... from his green eyes. "Down here, I am known as Hawkman," he said. "But my true name is Katar Hol. And I am Shayera's father."

* * *

to be continued... 


	2. Chapter Two

Justice League Unlimited

Redemption

by Lord Akiyama

* * *

Author's Note: The events of this story takes place after the episode "The Cat and The Canary." Additionally, all characters are the property of DC Comics and AOL Time Warner. They are in no way being used for profit so please don't sue. And now, on with the show...

* * *

Chapter Two 

-

The Watchtower

"If you ask me, Dick is doing a fine job running that crew," Flash said as he, Superman and Martian Manhunter returned from their trip to the surface. "He's been wanting to strike out on his own without Bats having to watching over his shoulder all the time."

"I see great potential in all five of them, Superman," J'onn said as the three made their way through the vast halls of the Watchtower. "The one called Raven may have the greatest potential of all. If she can master control over her emotions we could indeed have an ally stronger than any power wielding might."

"I agree with the both of you," Superman said. "I am just a little worried about them fighting crime this early in their lives. And they've already been through so much already that it could harm them on an emotional level."

"Well, speaking of Dick, here comes Bats right now," Wally smiled as Batman walked past them. "Hey Bats, what do you think of Dick and his pals fighting crime on their own terms down in San Francisco"

"I'm a little busy, Wally," Batman replied, not paying any attention whatsoever to the other three as he continued on his way. "Although we're gonna need J'onn on this one." The others looked at one another before deciding to follow their comrade down the hallway.

"I take it this supernatural bank robbery was something that really needed our attention," Superman said.

"It wasn't the robbery itself, but rather a citizen there," Batman replied, his attention still away from the other three. "We ran into a costume who'd been down there for a while and he caught our attention right away."

"And you want me to examine him before deciding upon whether we should ask him to join," J'onn asked.

"Not that kind of attention," Batman said, finally stopping in place and turning to face the other three. "He caught our attention because he's a Thanagarian."

"What?" Superman said, as taken aback as the other two. "The Thanagarians are back on Earth"

"According to him, he's was exiled from Thanagar and originally came to aid us," Batman replied. "Which is one reason why we need J'onn. The others are watching over him down near the plaza level.."

"One reason?" J'onn repeated curiously, raising an eyebrow. "There's more to the story than the possibility of invaders"

"Very much," Batman replied. "He claims to be Shayera's father. I just ran a DNA analysis... and they are a match. They are biologically related to one another."

-

Another tear would occasionally run down her cheek as she would bring her head up, looking upon the man claiming to be her father. She watched as the Thanagarian calling himself Katar Hol gazed out upon the view of Earth from his position. He glanced over his shoulder to look upon her. Shayera didn't shy away as she watched him try to smile. Another tear ran down her cheek.

John Stewart did all that he could from choking up himself. The woman he once loved has been a shell of her former self for so long. She had rejoined the League, though it appeared she had not completely found herself. And now she had encountered a Thanagarian on Earth claiming to be her father. He could only imagine the emotions going through her mind and her heart.

"Do you believe any of this?" Diana asked him. John noted how she was still distrustful of the man known on the surface as Hawkman. And that despite not quite entirely trusting her, Diana felt almost as sympathetic as John was feeling toward Shayera. "Do you believe this Katar Hol is telling the truth"

"I dunno what to believe any more," John sighed. "But if you ask me, I think that Shayera will be the one he will be answering to if he is lying. Messing with her emotions is not the best thing to do." The door behind them slid open and Batman appeared with Superman, Martian Manhunter and Flash.

Batman's walking toward Shayera kept Diana and John from asking the question they were about to find the answer to. He handed Shayera the results of the DNA analysis. He watched without emotion as she dropped the paper and buried her face into her hands. She softly cried as he walked over toward Hawkman.

"The DNA analysis came back as a match," Batman said. "In part, you were telling the truth in at least being related to her."

"I thank you for believing me so far," Hawkman replied. He turned his head to look upon Shayera. He watched her cry before she slowly removed her face from her hands to look upon him. He tried to smile again in the hopes of providing comfort.

"We've decided to take another approach in figuring out whether or not you're telling the truth," Batman continued. "I want you to meet Martian Manhunter." J'onn stepped forward as Batman watched Hawkman sigh and turn to face the new visitor. He then stepped away and placed himself amongst the others.

"Martian, eh" Hawkman said. "Haven't seen you boys in a very long time."

"And you probably won't see any more after this," J'onn said. "Mars has since been desolated and barren."

"I'm sorry," Hawkman said.

"You could have done nothing to prevent its fate," J'onn sighed. "But let us return to the matter at hand. I've been asked to enter your mind and examine your history. Its one way to determine the validity of your claims."

"If you must, I will freely comply," Hawkman nodded.

J'onn watched as the Thanagarian closed his eyes and lowered his head enough so that the forehead stuck out the most. J'onn then took both hands and place them within Hawkman's head. He closed his eyes and the memories began to wash through. The others watched with anticipation. Shayera held her hands together, hoping for something to happen soon. Moments had passed and then J'onn removed his hands from Hawkman's head. He opened his eyes and started to breath a little heavy.

"What is it?" Diana asked, standing as though her reply was going to be something bad.

J'onn shook his head for a moment before staring at Hawkman. He then turned and headed for the door. "It's best if we leave them together," he said. "They have a lot to talk about."

"So they're father and daughter?" Flash asked.

"They are," J'onn replied as he opened the door. "I suggest we let them be so that they can speak. Besides, I need to speak with the rest of you." His exit left the others confused by the last sentence. Wally shrugged as he followed Martian Manhunter of the room. Superman followed next, then Wonder Woman along with Batman.

John was about to follow when he stopped and turned to Shayera. He looked upon a face that was covered with so many emotions, none of which she was sure she should express. He placed a hand upon her shoulder and tried to give her a comforting smile before leaving moments later. And then, father and daughter were alone.

Shayera slowly wiped the tears from her eyes and looked upon her father. Katar stood in place, trying his best to smile for her. Shayera dropped her head and tried to smile herself. "So..." she finally spoke. "... after all these years..." She looked back up to see him still wearing the smile. Her smile remained as well.

Katar walked slowly forward before stopping in front of her. Their gaze upon one another remained locked. He slowly lifted his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly began to brush her bangs that otherwise covered her face. His smile widened a little as a light chuckle became audible, despite his mouth closed.

"So..." he said. "... where do you want me to start?"

-

"I knew there was something he wasn't telling us," Diana spoke. All six had barely entered the meeting room when she began to speak her mind. "What did you learn from reading his mind, J'onn? Are the Thanagarians planning some sort of attack?"

"My needing to speak to you all has nothing to do with the present," J'onn replied as he seated himself. He looked upon the faces of his comrades, who immediately fell into confusion. "It was better for him to explain to her his story himself. He knows and accepts my having to tell you, though."

"Okay, okay, back up big guy," Wally said. "I'm not following. Is this information about an invasion of any sort?"

"No," J'onn replied. "It's about Shayera's heritage." Confusion turned into bewilderment. The others started to look upon one another, though they knew they were likely not going to offer any ideas as to what exactly J'onn meant.

"Maybe you should start from the beginning, J'onn," John finally said. "It would probably be best to get the entire back story on this guy if we're ever gonna figure out what you mean by her heritage."

"I was the first police officer on Thanagar," Katar began, taking a sip of a drink his daughter offered. "In the beginning, the military dictatorship of our home was successfully moving along smoothly. We barely had any criminals of any sort. Everyone was just too afraid the military would do something. They someone started to get smart and figure out how to make a robbery look like an unsolved mystery." He paused to take a look at the drink in his hand. "This is good. What is it called?"

"Hot chocolate," Shayera replied with a light smile. "So you became the first policeman. How?"

"I was always suspicious," he replied with a grin. "I always felt that there was something wrong with the picture, but couldn't really put my finger upon it. So the higher ups finally decided to see if my paranoia would be of great benefit to them and made me an officer of the law. Within a few days, I arrested the thief. It wasn't long before crimes slowly started to creep into society, but I was there to do my job and I did it seriously. Too seriously, some would say."

"I take it is this point where you said you were, 'a trouble maker,' am I right," Shayera said.

"And proud of it," Katar replied. "My suspicions started to shift toward what exactly kind of government was being run on Thanagar. And entire planet ruled by one body of government. Didn't really make a whole lot of sense as time progressed. Not to mention the why the government was being run. I kept voicing my opinion about the manner, but they laughed it off. When I started raising my voice, they started getting concerned.

"As the police force was growing, they were trying to find more ways to keep me out of a position that would be of great importance. Which is why I never was a commissioner. And this would go on for a very long time. So long that I quite honestly didn't care what position they left me. I was still going to let my thoughts be heard regardless of whether or not they tried to talk the people into not believing me. I found it lots of fun, quite actually."

"He's beginning to sound like someone we know," Wally chuckled, stealing a glance at Batman. If he was feeling any emotion, he hid it well. "So what happened next?"

"Katar received the call to apprehend a thief named Byth Rok, who stole something of value and actually fled the planet," J'onn continued. "An inventor on Thanagar created a pill which allowed the taker to become a metamorph. It also had the ability to alter the molecules of his body to any form of animal life he can envision."

"But why would they send you?" Shayera asked. "This sounded like a very important case. And you said they didn't want you in any sort of important position."

"Because of the fact that the thief had fled off planet, meaning I had to leave the planet to chase after him," Katar grinned. "They disliked me so much that they jumped at the chance to send me away the first opportunity they had. They probably regretted allowing me to take whatever ship I wanted as I ended up following Byth using a newly built star-cruisers equipped to travel through hyperspace. This meant I was exceeding the limitations of the speed of light in my pursuit."

Shayera looked confused. "Wait a minute," she said. "When I was last on Thanagar, we never had such a ship."

"That's because I took the only prototype and I crashed it," Katar gleefully said, as if he was extremely proud of himself. The smile faded after a moment's thought. "I'll tell you why in a moment. Any way, where was I?"

"In no time, Katar tracked Byth through the various universes until he found his ship in the least likely location," J'onn continued. He paused for a moment before telling his comrades where this location was. "The chase ended on Earth."

"What!" the others cried. They know that whenever J'onn entered the mind, he would make sure that the memories he read were the complete truth. To hear him say that Shayera was not the first Thanagarian to arrive on Earth, but rather her father Katar was a bit of a surprise. Not to mention some confusion.

"But that doesn't make sense," Superman said. "There's no record of him or this Byth having been on Earth before Shayera came."

"That's because they arrived during the ancient Egypt era," J'onn replied. "More specifically under the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu." Now the confusion was really starting to scare them.

"But that would make him thousands of years old" Diana said. "And he's supposed to be Shayera's father? How old would that make her?"

"You have to understand that not all civilizations in the universe are the same," J'onn said. "Much has to do with the environment and the location of your home world. Granted you are rather unique, Diana, in that you've been blessed by your goddesses. The aging on Thanagar is very much slower than that of Earth or even Mars."

"So by being born and raised in Thanagar, one would be thousands years older than the age those on Earth would perceive one to be," Batman deduced. "That meant that Shayera was probably raised and most likely born on Thanagar. But that still doesn't explain the question of her heritage like you're suggesting, J'onn."

"There's probably more to the story," John said. "So Katar and this Byth arrive on Earth. What happened next?"

"Even back then the Thanagarian technology allowed them to cloak their ships and render them invisible from the naked eye," J'onn continued. "Both ships took advantage of this when they arrived in Egypt. However, Katar soon learned that Byth believed the planet to be desolate and stayed in his ship. Katar was able to locate Byth's ship through his own, which was able to track any irregularities within a surrounding environment. Considering that Thanagarian technology was far more advanced than Earthlings at the time, it was quite easy to known there was another ship in the area.

"But Byth was not that easily swayed. He fact, he swallowed the pill and fled the ship just as Katar was about to enter. The chase ran through some of the desert landscape and all the way to the royal palace. Because of the strong beliefs in their gods back then, the Egyptians thought of Katar, the appearance of a man with wings on his back, as a living manifestation of Ra. The animal appearance Byth imagined himself as led the Egyptians to believe he was a demon. This led to the people to add Katar to capturing the thief, although there was no choice but to end Byth's life as he would've been much too violent to properly imprison."

Katar gave a light smile before looking directly into his daughter's face. "It was at that moment that I laid eyes on the most beautiful creature I had ever seen," he said. He watched as his daughter widened her eyes in shock and perhaps a little amazement. He nodded as he continued to speak. "She was nothing more than a servant girl to the Pharaoh. But the beauty that radiated from her wasn't just coming from the outside. It was like I could see her beauty within, as well."

Shayera's eyes began to light up as she listened to her father speak about this woman. She should know better, to believe that he could be talking about nothing more than a woman he saw once and would never see again. Yet the way he spoke about the woman made it feel so right.

Katar watched her daughter glow and smiled just a little wider. "If only you could have seen her yourself," he quietly said. Gently, he lifted his hand and brushed her hair at one side. "And how much you look just like her."

Shayera did all that she could to fight back a tear. "What was her name?" she asked.

Katar chuckled a little. "You took her name, only the Thanagarians spelt it differently," he replied. "Chay-Ara captivated me in such a way that I could not dream possible. But I faced a dilemma. I was from another world and I was supposed to return. But then, the government didn't like me to begin with. Especially considering how much trouble I cause them just by being in their presence. So I satisfied their wishes while taking a chance at mine.

"I relayed a communications message about being stranded on a planet lacking in Thanagarian technology and was unsure of my return. I also requested that I be alone in educating myself in my surroundings so that I would have information to return with. I was actually quite surprised by how much their dislike of me allowed them to take my consideration to heart and left me alone on this planet.

"The people believed me to be Ra, but I explained to them that though I came from the heavens I was not their god. So they thought of me as a figurative representative of their god and I went with it. I told them that I would be nothing more than an observer and would allow the Pharaoh to conduct himself the way he saw fit. My only request was for a guide to be with me and help me understand all that was happening. I guess fortune was on my side as Khufu assigned Chay-Ara to me. I can only imagine the face I was wearing at that moment.

"I surprised her once we got started by allowing her to speak freely about anything. She was quite taken aback as she felt she must only speak when spoken to. For me to allow her to say what she will at any time seemed too tempting to be real. But I wanted to hear her speak of what was to become my new home. And speak she did. Her mannerisms were quite elegant and her voice was as pretty as a singing bird. She talked so much in one day that she was exhausted at day's end. Then I surprised her again by telling her who I truly was. And she was mesmerized.

"I told her about Thanagar and of the galaxies far beyond the eye could see. I talked of planets and stars and civilizations unlike any she had ever imagined before. And then I saw stars in her eyes. The kind that told me that I had swept her off her feet and had flown her to a dream turned reality. So I decided to do just that. When the time came one night long after I had arrived, I brought her to my ship and we toured this galaxy. It was just a short round of the planets and their moons and the sun.

"And then we finally stopped in a stationary orbit above the Earth. And she saw the lands that extended beyond her native Egypt. We talked, but we quickly found ourselves in deep silence. Our eyes did the talking. As did our hearts. I had never kissed before and when we did, I knew she was the woman I would love forever."

Katar watched as his smiling daughter started to shed a tear that ran gently down her cheek. He could sense her feelings, of hearing the story of the parents she never knew meeting and falling in love. What he didn't sense was the irony she felt in her head. To her, it didn't feel that long ago when aboard the first Watchtower she shared her first kiss with John. And to have done the same thing her parents did caused her to smile even wider with joy.

"Nine months later, everything began to change," J'onn continued. "Katar stumbled upon an attempt on Khufu's life. He was successful in stopping the assassination of the Pharaoh, but not capturing the culprit. This was Hath-Set, who was once a trusted priest of Anubis within Khufu's circle. He was trying to kill the Pharaoh as sacrifice for a sacred ritual in the hopes of attaining great power.

"After escaping, Hath-Set decided to alter his plans and believed that Katar would've made for a better sacrifice. So he waited in the shadows of the home Katar and Chay-Ara shared until nightfall. As Katar returned home and kissed his pregnant beloved, Hath-Set and his followers attacked. Katar successfully fight them all off unscathed. But the real damage was when in a fit of rage, Hath-Set drew a dagger made of crystal and stabbed Chay-Ara. Enraged, Katar struck back with blow more fierce than the last. As he raised his mace for the kill, Katar listened as Hath-Set swore to be reborn and claim vengeance against his descendants. Katar smashed his head with the mace."

"I had never felt such fear," Katar spoke in a quiet, sorrow tone. "I was going to lose the woman I loved. And I could also be losing the child we were to bring into the world. Nothing on Earth was technologically advanced enough to save them, so I had no choice but to return to the one place I did not want to go. Because I knew that by returning with an alien I had impregnated I would be asking for the worst kind of punishment."

Shayera stared in disbelief and sadness, watching her father vent grief for his beloved and anger for the world he once called home. She watched as water started to form just beneath his eye lids as he raised his head to collect his thoughts.

"Your mother, losing life by the minute, made me promise her that regardless of her fate that I save your life," he continued. "She told me that she was gladly surrendering hers so that the child born out of our love and sacred union would be born. And so, despite what future would await me, I lived up to my promise. I carried her to the ship and I broke every control in the ship so that we would reach Thanagar the fastest way possible."

"He crashed the ship upon arrival, destroy practically every information needed to build another ship just like it," J'onn further explained. "As if the Thanagarian officials weren't angry as it was that he destroyed valuable property, no words could describe the hatred they felt for Katar when he appeared with a pregnant alien in his arms. At first, they were going to arrest him, kill Chay-Ara and her child, and lay down terrible punishment upon him. But then one of the officials secretly explained to the others that this could be an opportunity to take advantage of."

John buried his face in his hands with disbelief and horror. Diana sat back and shook her head, not being able to comprehend what she was being told. Wally placed a hand upon his forehead and slumped forward onto the table. Superman hung his head, disgusted and dumbfounded at the events that had transpired. Even Batman couldn't hide any emotion. The terrors he had seen in the past were quickly shaping to be far worse than this was.

"They agreed to save the child," J'onn continued. "Chay-Ara died shortly after their daughter was born. And the infant could easily pass off as a Thanagarian newborn. They then took the baby out of Katar's arms. The official responsible for the scheme told him that the child would immediately be placed within their military program. And that Katar Hol was to be exiled."

"I wanted to rip their black hearts out right there on the spot," Katar said with anger, fighting the tears running down his cheeks. "I didn't care if I was going to die doing so, I didn't want them to take the only thing I had left. My own flesh and blood to be taken away from me and I was to never see you ever again. I screamed for their heads as the guards held me back, letting them walk slowly away from me. And I knew for sure that they were laughing as they went."

The shear horror Shayera felt was indescribable. The tears that ran down her face and the sorrow in her eyes showed that could see enough to know the emotions that stirred within her. And that's not counting how she felt about being used by this very same government to help them in conquering her mother's planet.

"But I wasn't going to allow them all the victory," Katar continued. "I screamed at them, letting them know that though my existence would be erased from Thanagarian memory, the name Hol would not be forgotten. One of the laws then was that once the child was named it could never be changed to another. And the parents had first right. I was your father, and I was still alive. And I was going to make damn sure that they didn't take your name away. I let them know that Chay-Ara Hol would be a name they would not bury."

Silence befell the six of them. Many emotions encompassed their feelings upon what they had just heard. But there was one that overpowered all other emotions. Sadness. The sorrow they felt for a woman they knew would be suffering emotionally over. Not even their imaginations could fathom how it would be.

"Katar returned to Earth," J'onn quietly continued. "He presented his beloved's body before the Pharaoh and asked him that she be buried in secret. Khufu noticed that she was previously pregnant and asked where their child was. Katar didn't know how to explain what had happened on Thanagar, but decided upon that plans were laid out before her and that she would not be seen until she was ready. The Egyptians accepted this and Khufu honored Katar by burying Chay-Ara in secret within Hamunaptra. Katar looked upon his wife one last time before leaving the planet."

"I sought a place within some of the uncharted regions of the universe," Katar said. "I carried the belief that I would one day see you again, but knew that if I stayed on Earth my aging would quicken and such a wish would not come to fruition. Instead, I went to this planet and remained in private solitude. It was here that I was able to regain my strength and focus my attention on the hope that I would see you again.

"Centuries had passed. Then I received word that Thanagarians were making an attempt to invade Earth." Katar watched as his daughter slowly turned her head in shame. A moment later, he gently lifted her chin to face his light smile. "Though I was filled with fear that the native planet of my beloved would fall to the government that striped me of all that was mine, I was also filled with excitement. I knew where you were."

"Katar traveled as quickly as he could with the limited resources he had," J'onn continued. "He had just entered our galaxy when he noticed the Thanagarian armada leaving. Making sure that he wasn't spotted, he quietly made his way to Earth. His first stop was in Egypt and relieved that Chay-Ara's tomb was not disturbed. He then disguised himself as he tried to get the information he needed on what had happened. He wasn't getting many answers until he came upon a certain butler in Gotham City."

Everyone turned their attention to Batman, who raised a brow in surprise. "He met Alfred?" he asked. "And Alfred told him everything?"

"Everything that he knew," J'onn replied. "You'll probably have to speak to your butler yourself, but Katar believed he felt sympathy. Especially after having spoken to and gotten to know Shayera a little better while he decided upon her fate as a member of the League. Alfred told him about Shayera's emotional feelings and her deciding to resign instead of hearing how we voted. After hearing this, Katar decided to lay low and keep as quiet as possible considering the Earthlings would not be trustworthy of another Thanagarian so quickly. And then he came upon Midway City."

"After a while of restless waiting, I decided to take a chance and do something," Katar said. "I always carried this belief that Earth had given me so much and I gave nothing in return. So I followed your example and donned the mask of a hawk. When Commissioner Emmet finally spotted me after many heroics, he was sympathetic and open-minded enough to believe my stories and welcomed me as the guardian of his city. Hawkman was born..." He grinned a little before turning to face his daughter. He looked upon the small, yet joyous smile she wore. "... and then my wish was fulfilled."

Father and daughter looked at another in complete silence for a moment. And then, Shayera wrapped her arms around Katar and embraced him. Katar's smile widened as he returned the embrace. A heart-felt reunion centuries in the making. And it was everlasting.

Upon their release, Katar chuckled a little as he gazed upon his daughter, the splitting image of his beloved. "Well then..." he said. "Now you know my story. Tell me about yours."

* * *

to be continued... 


	3. Chapter Three

Justice League Unlimited

Redemption

by Lord Akiyama

* * *

Author's Note: The events of this story takes place after the episode "The Cat and The Canary." Additionally, all characters are the property of DC Comics and AOL Time Warner. They are in no way being used for profit so please don't sue. And now, on with the show...

* * *

Chapter Three 

-

Cairo, Egypt

If there was one thing that bugged her about having to travel abroad to only spend a week or so on a story, its that her biological clock gets damaged almost beyond repair. Lois Lane hates it whenever she suffers from jet lag simply because it affects her ability to work properly. Not to mention it destroys any of her beauty sleep for the next several days upon return to Metropolis.

She never understood why Perry decided to cut down her work load back home and have her take one of the occasional strange overseas scoops. Might have to do with Clark Kent's lack of appearance around the office as of late, even if he gets his stories in before deadline. What she also didn't understand was why Perry wanted her to continue baby-sitting by assigning Jimmy Olsen as her photographer. Couldn't he just enlist some AP guy she didn't have to keep a watchful eye on every two minutes?

Come to think of it, why is she on some pathetic assignment in Cairo any way? For some so-called hidden tomb in Hamunaptra? Wasn't every tomb hidden to begin with? And what would make this one so special to send her out here waiting for her guide to finish coiling over some map in private? And why the hell is Jimmy late with their lunch?

"My, my, we must live in a small world to meet like this." The voice was all too familiar to hear. And it made her want to puke. She sighed as she regrettably turned to face that stupid grin of his.

"Well, well, if it isn't Snapper Carr," Lois said, put forth one of her award-winning fake smiles. "What brings you in the middle of the desert this time of the year?"

"I was about to ask you the same question, Ms. Lois Lane," Snapper replied, not bothering to ask her if she minded that he took a seat. He placed himself on the seat facing directly as her. This caused her to just forget about faking the smile and let her face visually explain the frustration she felt having him around.

"Maybe I'm having myself a happy little vacation from the stress that is working as a newspaper journalist," she said, looking away so she didn't have to keep staring at that dumb face. And she thought Lex Luthor had a terrible smile...

"Highly doubtful," Snapper responded, resting his legs upon one of the other two chairs. His lack of manners was really starting to irritate her. "Because if you were, I'd have to report you to the proper authorities upon return to the states for adultery with an underage minor." Now he was really starting to piss her off. He must've spotted Jimmy somewhere.

"Oh, and I suppose you're the one on vacation," Lois snorted back.

"Not at all," Snapper replied. "I'm on assignment just like you. Though I am curious as to what exactly a 'newsprint' journalist would find that might make the newspaper less enjoyable than live television nowadays. Come on, tell an old friend why you're in the middle of the desert this time of year."

Lois just leered at him for a moment, hoping he'd just take off and stop killing whatever joy she had left at the moment. "Perry liked this so-called guide who said there was some hidden tomb in Hamunaptra," she finally sighed. "I'm just not understanding Perry any more. He's sending me and Jimmy on these pathetic overseas assignments when I'm one of his top guns on the Metropolis scene."

"Maybe its a sign that you need a better occupation," Snapper said. "Just say the word and I can hook you up with any of the top TV gigs. CNN, NBC, CBS. I can even pull some strings to have you take over Nightline before you can say 'Uncle.' You're one of the smartest gals in the business and you have a look that's just screaming television."

"And I'm sure you can make my dreams come true," Lois said, rolling her eyes. "Being a television personality is nothing more than just standing or sitting in place and having the camera pointed at your face as you talk. There's nothing exciting or creative about it! With the right assignment, newspaper journalism has you running for the hills to beat the other guy to the story. And you're telling a story to the people!" She's been explaining herself to every other pathetic TV newsman like Carr so many times that those very words have practically been embedded in her memory. "So why don't you indulge me and explain why you're here before I give you five seconds to beat it."

Snapper chuckled. It took everything in her power to keep from socking him. "We're getting in touch with a Dr. Anton Hastor, who says he can gets us on live TV an actual ritual the priests of Anubis used to perform in the ancient days."

"Yippee..." Lois sarcastically groaned. "As if we couldn't get realism from a Stephen Sommers flick." He turned her head to see Jimmy about to cross the street. It appeared he finally got his hands on lunch. "Your five seconds start now, Carr."

"Looks like I'm off then," Snapper smiled as he got himself out of his seat. Her temper toward TV newsman was starting to make the rounds. "Maybe we'll cross each other's paths again around here." And with that, he was off.

"I can't wait..." she groaned, rolling her eyes.

-

The Watchtower - Two days later...

She was waiting at his table. John stood there, seeing the look on her face for a moment. He sighed and headed for the table, carrying the lunch he was hoping to enjoy. If the food here could ever be as enjoyable as the drinks. He knew he couldn't avoid her forever. He just didn't want to face her soon enough after listening to J'onn explain the back story to the man discovered to be Shayera's father.

"Don't worry, this won't be long," Mari said. The look on her face made him very nervous.

He sighed again as he took his seat. "I really do feel that this is not the time to have this talk, Mari," John said.

"Which is why it won't be long," Mari said. Her tone changed, but not in anger. That made him even more nervous. "Do you have an idea now, John?"

John lowered his head. "After the other day, not even close," he said.

Mari sighed. "Okay then," she said, getting up from her seat. "Then I'll make things a little easier on you." He did not like what he just heard. "You can't make up your mind and I don't like having to wait nervously in the hopes of you finally making your decision. It's been getting worse ever since, we both know that. So I'm going relieve you of one bit of stress and move on with my life."

John closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "I'm very sorry about all this, Mari," he quietly said. "I really am."

"I know," she replied. "I know it was never your intention to be in this position or to take me along for the ride. Things like this happen sometimes. Its just I cannot be expected to wait forever only to be told I'm not the one you want. Maybe I am the one you want, maybe I'm not. It doesn't matter now." She sighed, trying to find the right words. "Y-you can say I'm doing this for the both of us..."

She stopped for a moment, running out of words to say. She looked upon John's sunken head and walked over to him. "I'm still part of the team and we can still talk," she said. "And I really do hope you come to a decision, no matter if its me or her or any one else." Quite gently, she placed a kiss upon his temple. A tear escaped from his closed eyelids and ran down his cheek. When he opened his eyes, she was gone.

John sat in place, taking in all that has happened in the past few days. He didn't bother to touch his lunch. Much of time had passed when Batman appeared and seated himself in the chair next to him. He didn't turn to face him. Batman took one glance at John before going through a file of papers he brought with him.

"Mari broke up with me," John finally muttered. Batman made no form of movement to implicate emotions.

"You're blaming yourself for it," Batman managed to say, retaining his focus upon his work.

"Rather me than Shayera," John sighed.

"Shayera has some responsibility with this?" Batman asked.

"If you're looking from the outside in, you might say that," John replied, shaking his head. "The truth is I never got over her even when she left. I was just foolish enough to think I would never see her again and that I had to move on with my life."

"A very common train of thought, unfortunately," Batman noted, still not releasing himself of his work. "I know a lot of women who sympathize with you."

"I can only imagine how many," John said. It was a joke, but he himself didn't even crack a smile. "It's just that every time I look at her, its like she's so lost with trying to find herself and that she needs someone to guide her. And I feel so helpless because I want to help her, but it feels like something's holding me back."

"You're afraid you'll do more harm than good if you try to get involved," Batman said. John began to wonder where the hell Bats got the training as to figuring out how a person feels. Must be one of those Zen-like things. Maybe he should give it a shot.

John sighed and leaned forward in his chair, staring at the food he hadn't touched since the chef plopped it upon his tray. "And then there was our little trip to the future," he said. He glanced over to see if he would get a quick response. None whatsoever. "I haven't told any one about it, don't worry. And I've been doing all that I can to keep it from clouding my thoughts whenever I see her. Then we found her father and... well..."

Batman changed his focus and turned to him. That surprised John. "Your emotional feeling over our discovery in the future has switched gears ever since we learned of the circumstances surrounding her birth," Batman said. "It's now gotten to the point that your afraid of how she might react if you ever tell her that potentially fifty years into the future you both will be dead and your son will have to fend for his own. A very close similarity to how she grew up on Thanagar."

John didn't speak for a moment as another tear began to run down his cheek. "I'm scared out of my mind," he quietly spoke, dropping his head. "But that barely touches the surface of my fear, Bats."

It didn't take a detective to know where this was going. "You want to tell her, regardless of the potential consequences to the timeline," Batman said.

"I owe it to her," John said. "She needs to know, regardless of the fact that you and I are the only ones who would remember and understand." He sighed, gently wiping the tears from his eyes. "And she's been lied to practically her entire life. I don't want her to think I was holding back some secret that would cause her even more emotional stress."

"Telling her would also cause emotional stress," Batman said.

"But not as badly as not telling her and her finding out," John reasoned. He sighed and shook his head. He thought to himself for a moment before turning back to face Batman. "Maybe I've been lying to myself into thinking I didn't know who I wanted to be with. I still love Shayera and maybe I'm serious enough to want to get back together with her that I'm willing to do anything."

Batman stared at his comrade for a moment. And then he returned his focus to his work. "There's no advice I can give you to help you make a decision with what to do," he said to John. "Only you can decide what's right for you. No one else can."

-

Midway City, Michigan - Thirty seconds later...

"Nice, gentle breeze during the nights, just right perfect conditions during the day, some of the friendliest and open-minded people you could ever hope to meet. I can see why this city attracted you, dad." Shayera giggled as she gently walked along the rooftop. The very spot she learned of Katar's relation to her. She looked out upon the sunlit streets and smiled as children played carefree, mothers watched with joy, teens helping the elderly with everyday activities. Who could not fall in love with a place like this?

The maskless Katar smiled, keeping his hands to his back as he followed his daughter's slow steps. "It was as though it knew who I was and welcomed me with open arms," he said. Shayera turned to give her father a smile. Moments later, she closed her eyes and let the wind blow through her. Katar's smile widen watching his daughter at peace like this. But like all things, the peace didn't last.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" she asked. Katar couldn't help but chuckle. She was grown up, yet she had the heart of a child.

"You can ask me anything, Shayera," he replied.

"When did you know that you truly loved mom?" she asked. She turned to face with and tried her best to give a light smile. It wasn't that long ago she told her story to him, of how she was in love with two men. One from Thanagar and one from Earth. One whose love she betrayed and the other betrayed her love. Her romance was not as wonderful as she envisioned her parents had.

Katar sighed and returned a light smile of her own. "When I saw the stars in her eyes," he replied. "When I told her about where I came from and the large universe that we were apart of. I was a being from another world and I had found her to be the most attractive creature of all."

Shayera's smile widen, but only for a moments time. She sighed and looked away from her father. "Ever since the Thanagarians invaded Earth, I've been trying to find myself," she said. "My identity in life. And part of that identity could be with one of the two men I care deeply for. I spent much of my time away from both of them, accepting the housing of a fellow costume in the hopes that he and his wife could help me find myself."

"And were you able to?" Katar asked.

Shayera shook her head. "When I returned to the League, I don't think I really did," she replied. "I think all I did was accept the welcoming arms of those who were willing to give me a second." She sighed as she started to pace upon the rooftop. "When we found one another and I learned of my heritage and how my upbringing was a lie... I think it only complicated my search."

"I'm very sorry," Katar said.

"Oh, no,don't be," Shayera quickly said, turning to face him. "We've been separated from one another for so long. I wouldn't dream of blaming you for anything." She stopped and turned her head to one side. "It's just that I feel so lost now, not knowing where I should go and how I should do anything." She sighed again and looked farther outward to where the sky ended in the distance. "And I think a lot of it has to do with my heart and who I truly love."

"Why do you say that?" Katar asked, wanting to help his daughter the best he could.

"Because to me it all comes down to an issue of trust," she replied. "One man is from Thanagar, a world I thought was home until I learned of its endless corruption and lies. And he betrayed my love by not telling me the truth about why the armada came to Earth. The other is from Earth, that hates and despises me for my participation in the invasion. And I betrayed his love by siding with Thanagar first before realizing my mistake. And I was born of a union between a man from Thanagar and a woman from Earth. I am completely torn in two with what I should decide."

Katar took a deep breath and thought for a moment for an answer to give to his daughter. He very much despised Thanagar, but he wants to help with basing a decision not on his personal feelings. He walked over to his daughter and gently lifted her chin.

"I knew your mother and I were in love because we knew in our hearts that we were meant to be," he quietly spoke. "Not because we were of different worlds. Not because we were of different races. Because our hearts decided for us. And that is the only advice I can give you. Regardless of who you love, whether it is one of the two men or any other. You are in love because your heart meant it to be. Unclouded by all other decisions. Let your heart speak for you."

Shayera felt a tear forming under her eyes. She smiled before falling into her father for an embrace. She couldn't imagine having lived her life without him. They had only known one another for a few days, and yet it felt like they were never apart. He returned the embrace with the same passion she felt.

When they released, Katar smiled a little wider. "How about I show you something special," he said.

"I can't imagine anything more special than being with you," Shayera replied.

"I can probably think of one," Katar said. "How would you like to visit your mother"

* * *

to be continued... 

Additional Note from the Author: I was going to save addressing this until after the story was completed, but it's probably best to address them now. Some of you readers were wondering why I didn't explain the events of "The Once and Future Thing" in the first two chapters. Well, addressing of this event was part of the plan from day one, it's just that I wanted to save it for later. But I guess getting into it now after John had heard about Shayera's birth would've worked as well. But I never forgot about what happened in those two episodes. In fact, seeing the second part was one of the catalysts that brought about my writing this story. Another issue was from another reader as it related to my referencing the Titans at the beginning of chapter two. I haven't really watched the Superman animated series so I wouldn't have known about Dick's reference in the series and his being Nightwing. But I can address the issue in that I didn't call him by any of his aliases nor did I call the team the Teen Titans. In fact, I could be referencing them as The Titans, which is what they would shortly become later on after Dick becomes Nightwing. And for Superman to call them kids is pretty typical to how adults address young people, something that I tend to pick up a lot from family gatherings. I'm past my teens yet I'm still called a kid. But any way, that's one way to clear up any misunderstandings with the start of chapter two. So thanks for the comments and reviews you've given me and keep continuing to enjoy the story.

(Turns to the evil plot bunnies munching on his ear.) Will you just STOP MUNCHING SO HARD! I'm gonna lose an ear!


	4. Chapter Four

Justice League Unlimited

Redemption

by Lord Akiyama

* * *

Author's Note: The events of this story takes place after the episode "The Cat and The Canary." Additionally, all characters are the property of DC Comics and AOL Time Warner. They are in no way being used for profit so please don't sue. And now, on with the show...

* * *

Chapter Four 

-

Cairo, Egypt

"Are you even sure there is such a place as Hamunaptra!" Lois yelled as she stormed out of the hotel with a nervous Jimmy Olsen right behind with the camera hanging from his neck. They followed the heavily clothed man toward a waiting jeep. "I swear to God, MY GOD MIND YOU, that if you leave us to rot in the middle of the desert you're gonna wish you were never born!" As soon as they were inside the jeep, Lois slammed the door hard. And then they were off.

He watched, peering through an otherwise heavily closed blinds and chuckled. "Everything's going according to plan," he muttered. He took a few steps from the window and turned to a pair of figures waiting in the room. "Now all we need to do is get this pathetic TV reporter to play along and we will have our revenge in no time. And might I say that your brothers did a fine job gaining the attention of the Justice League back in Midway City."

One of the figures turned his attention to the door. He saw this and heard what they heard. Footsteps headed their way. The reporter was here. "Alright boys," he said with a grin. "Get into the bag quickly and we can begin our journey's end." The figures did as they were told, adapting themselves to the shadows and sneaking their way into the waiting backpack that rested upon a chair. Moments later, there was a pair of knocks on the door. "You may enter, Mr. Carr," he said, having changed his voice tone.

The door opened and the familiar smile of Snapper Carr's appeared along with a few other bodies. No doubt his broadcast crew. "Well, Dr. Hastor," Carr said upon entering. "Shall we get this show on the road?"

"Yes, very much Mr. Carr," Hastor said, walking ever so slowly to the backpack resting on the chair. "Let us embark on our venture into history."

-

Hamunaptra, Egypt - Thirty minutes later...

"So this place is real," Superman said as he scanned his surroundings. "Lois always concluded that that one movie about a mummy was incredibly fictitious."

"I wouldn't know anything about that," said a masked Hawkman. "All I know is that I asked my beloved to be buried in secret. It was Khufu who decided that she was important enough to be buried amongst the other kings buried away from all the other known tombs."

"If this is an Egyptian resting ground, where are the pyramids?" Wonder Woman asked, looking about the lack of structures around her. "Where are the statues?"

"This place was probably supposed to be so secret that no one would ever find it," Green Lantern thought aloud. "That and time tends to destroy a lot of what stood. Whose to say some of the statues have been buried beneath the increasing sand storms since the last being walked freely here? This is the perfect place to hide someone you didn't want the world to know."

John then turned to look upon Shayera. All her attention was focus upon her father. She watched as Katar examined specific spots in the ground before crouching down. He turned to her and motioned her to follow. Shayera took a deep breath and walked over to him. John motioned the others to follow them. They watched as Shayera crouched down with her father, who took one of her hands into his.

"Only a Thanagarian would successfully be able to unlock the door to your mother's tomb, Shayera," Katar said. "Khufu and I designed the security as such that only our blood would disarm them successfully. Which is why I came here first when I returned to make sure the Thanagarians didn't discover and otherwise harm your mother's sleep."

Shayera nodded as she looked upon the sand covered spot her father was examining moments before. She studied the ground before slowly moving her hand to touch it. She then began to brush the sand to reveal a piece of engraved concrete. She then brushed more of the sand to reveal more of the engraving. She stopped upon discovering what looked like a handprint. She examined her discovery until she looked upon her own hand. Slowly, she placed her hand within the engraving.

Sounds were heard and much of the sand around her began to move. In its place, light pierced through to reveal the shape of the engraving within the ground. Shayera recognized it quickly as that of the Thanagarian insignia. But the shape was different. She was about to move her hand when her father gently kept it upon the handprint engraving. She glanced over to him before nodding in understanding. Soon after, the light began to face and straight through the middle of the symbol a straight line appeared. This was the door to her mother's tomb and it was opening.

Superman, Diana and John watched in amazement at the sight before them. It appeared that the ancient Egyptians had excelled in technology long before any other civilization. Unless, of course, they were assisted by Katar. But such a thought was far from their minds at the moment. Their concern now was placed upon their comrade, Shayera. They knew she had lived her entire life without ever knowing an inkling of her mother, not even of her heritage. The could only imagine the vast streams of emotion surging through her as the doors came to a stop, having opened completely.

Shayera stood as she stared with a mixture of wonder and fear upon what she is about to see. This is where her mother, an Earthling, slept. She was fixated on the thought before feeling her father's hand gently pulling hers. She turned to see his gentle smile and smiled back. She took a deep breath and followed her father's guide into the tomb of his beloved Chay-Ara. Moments later, the others followed.

Lantern used his ring to light the room. Somehow, it wasn't helping a whole lot. There weren't even markings upon the walls beside them. "I take it there's more to this than what we're seeing," he said.

"Fire is the key element," Katar said, removing an unlit torch from its holding place. "Another security measure Khufu and I designed. Am I correct in understanding that Superman is able to generate fire for us?" Superman nodded and focused his sight upon the top of the torch. Two thin beams shot quickly out of his eyes and upon the torch. Seconds later, a flame erupted. And they had light. "Thank you," Katar said as he continued to lead them further into the tomb.

Moments later, they came to a stop. There was still barely anything to be seen. Lantern wanted to try his ring again, but Shayera placed her hand upon his forearm. She shook her head and he complied. "I'm not beginning to like this," Diana whispered as quietly as she could to Superman. "Do you think maybe this is some kind of trap?"

"You are about to see for yourself," Katar said. Diana was quickly shocked upon realizing Katar heard her doubts. Katar gave her smile and placed the flames of his torch upon a specific spot on the wall. And just like that, the entire room began to breathe life. He watched the others widen their eyes in splendid wonder at the sight before them.

The walls spoke with illustrations of the life of a woman who began as a servant to the Pharaoh and then became the beloved of a winged creature from the Heavens. The objects within were of solid gold, no doubt offerings from Khufu and others who paid tribute to her and Katar. There was even a small waterfall pouring from a gold mount at one side of the room. The majestic beauty they saw was beyond their wildest dreams. Chay-Ara was born without any valuables and was buried with the wealth of Egypt.

John turned to look upon Shayera. He couldn't help but smile a little as she saw her face. She was completely entranced by the wonder that surrounded her. All of these gifts were for her father's beloved, even after her passing. It was as if to say that even the king of this land was honored by her presence. He could see in her eyes that she would give anything to have met this woman said to be her mother.

"As you can see, you need the ability of flight to get across," Katar said, pointing out the huge gap between where they stood and where the treasures rested. "Khufu's idea. He strongly believed that no one should dare remove any of Chay-Ara's belongings for she was born without any. I didn't mind, so long as my beloved wasn't disturbed."

"You weren't taking any chances," Diana said, examining the gap. She couldn't see where the bottom was. "I can only imagine what other traps you've set up for her."

"The Thanagarians took away my daughter," Katar sighed. "If any one dared take Chay-Ara's body from her slumber, they better have had a death wish." He took another deep breath before pushing off the ground and flying over to the treasures. Shayera quickly followed, the others catching up moments later. "Through that doorway is where your mother lays, Shayera," Katar said, pointing toward the doorway next to the waterfall. "But before that is one more trap to pass through before reaching her."

"Thanagarian blood needed to open the door," Superman noted aloud. "Fire needed to light the room. Flight to pass over a gigantic gap that appears bottomless. You must've set up something more diabolical should any one have been lucky enough to by pass those previous obstacles."

"I wasn't so much worried about grave robbers as I was of Thanagarians if they ever came to Earth," Katar said as they made their way toward the doorway beside the waterfall. "Which is why I convinced Khufu to design the most hideous trap he could possibly devise."

-

The Watchtower - Two minutes later...

"'If you're so bored Flash, why not get to know some of the new blood a little better, Wally,'" Flash groaned. "'I'm sure you would hit it off with them if you ever end up in a tough spot.' Geez, you whine once and even J'onn is starting lose his sense of humor. ... Although the new blonde looks like a real hottie I wouldn't minding getting to know."

As if the sudden thought would disappear if he didn't hurry, Flash bolted for the recreational center. Batman made mention that two of the new guys would be there training intensively. Perhaps one of them is a blonde. It didn't take any longer than five seconds for Wally to arrive at the recreational center. After dusting himself off, as if he needed to, he put on his best smile and opened the door. What he saw was not one, but two blondes.

Green Arrow, lying on his stomach, groaned and winced as Black Canary tightened her grip on both his legs and one of his arms. In moments time, she was going to be stretching his back whether he wants it or not. Dinah smirked as she jammed her knee into the small of his back. She then noticed that someone was watching. She looked up at Flash with an even bigger grin.

"There's a five minute wait if you want a stretch, sir," she giggled. She rolled on her back and held Ollie high in the air with her knees still digging into his back. "And since you're one of the founders, I'll have to make it extra special."

"Run Sparky, before its too late..." Ollie managed to mutter as the pain continued to surge through his back. He was able to see the fear that painted Flash's face before moments later disappearing in a blur of speed. Ollie and Dinah stared at the door for a moment without saying and doing anything. "You know, I'm surprised he actually fell for it," he finally said.

"Some men just can't handle a good, pre-exercise stretch," Dinah smirked before further stretching Ollie's back.

"AAAHHH... good point..." he managed to groan. The stretch continued until he heard a pop in his back and exhaled. "Ah... there we are..." With that, Dinah rolled back forward and gently, if one could consider what she does gently, placed Ollie back on his stomach. "Been getting harder and harder to pop that. Thanks for the stretch."

"No problem," Dinah grinned. "Now are you sure you want to go another round with me?"

"Is that round still sparring?" Ollie smirked. Moments later, he found himself getting his legs stretched. And they were about to get twisted.

Flash kept running until he saw the familiar figure of Batman at one of his tables, examining yet another piece of evidence. Wally came to a stop and began catching his breath. "My, what fine people we've included in our roster, Bats," Wally mentioned in a somewhat sarcastic tone. "That friend of yours sure knows how to pick the ladies."

"Think of Oliver as me, only a little more open to others," Batman said, showing no sign of removing his focus from his work. "His life changing experience came later than it did for me."

"That and I heard he's very vocal about his opinions," Wally sighed before looking for a chair to sit in. "Supergirl said he's a bit of a racist and hardcore liberal. Whatever the last one means."

"Being rich means you have to mingle and play with the politicians," Batman replied, still placing all his attention on his work. "If you don't, they'll swipe every cent from underneath you. Oliver takes the more direct approach whereas I listen carefully for what needs to be heard."

"You don't say," Wally responded, finding a chair placed a little bit father from Bats. In a quick second, he retrieved it and sat himself near his comrade. "So what about the other blonde? Any juicy info on her?"

"Dinah was born with the ability to create a super sonic scream," Batman replied. "That wasn't enough for her, though, so she became Wildcat's best student."

"She was trained by Wildcat?" Wally said in surprise. "Huh. Guess that's how she was able to get Ollie in that stretch."

"Between those two, how do you know Oliver didn't purposely let her?" Batman replied.

-

Chay-Ara's Tomb - Five minutes later...

"Did I ever mention how glad I am my ring is able to create an energy force shield?" John said, look back at the pathway behind him. "I don't think even Lex Luthor could come up with something more evil than that. I'm gonna have bad dreams about this, I'm sure of it."

"In all honesty, I wouldn't attempt to see if even I could withstand such a trap," Superman replied, exhaling his relief. "How were you able to put together such a trap, Katar?"

"All I did was make suggestions," Katar said, trying to contain himself from snickering at the sight of a proud hero like Superman showing a sign of fear from something he took part of. "Khufu was responsible for putting these traps together. Too bad he couldn't pull the same kind of success for his own grave before passing."

"Hopefully we won't have to go through such a thing ever again," Diana said, holding herself up with her hands on her knees and catching her breath. "I'm actually glad Bruce didn't come along, or else he'd start having some ideas." Such a thought made Superman and John shutter. Bats would indeed be one of the few who could successfully attempt recreating such a trap.

Shayera was the only one not engaged in the conversation. In fact, her attention was far away from the trap. Everyone turned to see her stand perfectly still, looking upon the view that laid before her. Shayera slowly began to step forward, entering the room where in the middle rested her mother.

Shayera looked upon the coffin, feeling with the tip of her fingers the engraving of her mother's appearance upon it. The design looked very much like her own features. Only Chay-Ara didn't have green eyes nor did she have wings. Shayera's eyes remained upon the design of her mother's face as she stepped slowly around the coffin, her fingers running against the engravings. Within this coffin her mother slept. A tear began to slowly run down her cheek, speaking of the sadness she felt of never having met perhaps one of the most important people in her life.

Katar remained his place as he watched his daughter examine her mother's coffin, believing himself to be feeling the same kind of sadness she was. Superman looked to one side, but felt sympathy for Shayera. He too will never truly meet his biological mother. Diana felt sympathetic for Shayera herself. She almost lost her mother, the most important person in her life. She could only imagine the additional pain Shayera was truly feeling inside.

John refused to remove his eyes from her. This was a woman he loved and here she was at perhaps her weakest moment. A part of him wanted to walk over and give her comfort, while the other told him to stay back and let her be. The division within him was a parallel to his emotions for her.

Shayera came to a stop upon reaching one side to the engrave of her mother's face. She looked deeply at the eyes and ran her fingers upon the cheek. And then, as if all the strength was taken away from her, Shayera dropped to her knees. Her eyes covered in her arms, resting upon the engraving of her mother's body. Quiet sobbing could be heard coming from her shivering body. Moments later, she managed with whisper, "Mom..."

-

The Watchtower - Thirty minutes later...

One case was finished, it was time to start another. Batman closed the file and opened a second, examining the information first before getting to work with his investigation. Although he wasn't officially a member of the Justice League, Batman did find the scientific lab in this new Watchtower to fit his needs. Combining the financial budgets of his and Oliver Queen's along with the alien knowledge of J'onn and the nuclear and scientific knowledge of The Atom, it was more than the perfect investigative device in the galaxy.

Being one to remain focus on the work at hand, he didn't bother to look up to see the door sliding open and someone entering. He didn't bother to remove his attention over his work just to see the woman looking over his shoulder. But even though he didn't have to look or release his focus, he knew exactly who was behind him just by listening to all the details that most others wouldn't bother to take into consideration.

"I take it the trip down to the surface was a little bumpy," he commented, keeping his attention on his work.

"Maybe I probably need a lesson in history, but the Egyptians seemed really worried about their values even after death," Diana said before turning to find a chair to sit in.

"Their values are worth even more after death back in those days," he responded, no sign of breaking his focus. "Even more so are the bodies themselves sometimes. Many Egyptian royalties are missing simply because their tombs were raided and their bodies have yet to be recovered."

Diana nodded in understanding and then sighed. "Shayera wouldn't leave so John volunteered to stay with her while we returned," she said, finding a chair and taking a seat. "Katar was interested in meeting Dr. Fate while Superman said there was someone who needed his attention."

There was a length of silence as Diana sat in her chair while Batman retained his attention to examining the case at hand. Moments later, while still upon his work, Batman said, "Your emotional feeling for Shayera has shifted as of late."

Diana wanted to deny at first, but then she remembered who she was talking to. "You would make the perfect psychologist, you know that Bruce," she commented.

"You can say I have an unofficial degree in criminal psychology, just no certificate for proof," he replied, still on his work. "You're still unforgiving toward her because of the Thanagarian invasion, yet you're starting to feel sympathy because of all that has happened in the last few days."

Diana opened her mouth, but then thought better of what to say before she sighed. "I think all of this is starting to affect some of us," she said. "John seems just as lost as she is and here I am..." She stopped for a moment to come up with the right words to say. "Am I wrong if after all this I still dislike her Bruce?"

"That is all in the perception of your mind, Diana," he replied, not turning to face her. "Only you can let the assumption of whether you like or dislike Shayera be known to the others. Shayera openly accepts all the criticism for having taken part in the Thanagarian invasion and does not return with hatred or dislike. Even if she doesn't return with a smile or comfort either. I doubt all six of us could completely forgive her when he voted upon whether or not she was going to remain part of the team. But I understood why had she not resigned she would've remained on the team."

"It's because she deserved a second chance, right?" Diana said.

"That's what Superman would say, but I know better," Bruce replied. "Superman, J'onn and Wally voted for her to stay not just because she deserved a second chance. But because they knew at the end of the day she had the heart to do what was needed. When the invasion came to an end, it wasn't just because she realized her mistake and the betrayal she felt from her own people. She fought for us in the end because what she believed in was still in her heart and what she believed in was enough for the others to accept her."

"Then why did you vote for her to leave?" she asked curiously.

"You all know me enough to know the answer," he replied. If she could see his face, she would probably bet that he was grinning. "Though I agree with them, I'm not as optimistic. Talk to Dick, Barbara, Tim, and even Alfred if you want to know more about that."

"What about Zatanna?" she asked, raising a brow and forming a smirk on her face. "I heard you two were quite an item in the past and you needed her help when I was turned into a pig."

"Zatanna is part of a different subject, Diana," he replied. The tone of his voice made no giveaway of his feelings toward the comment Diana made. "The subject is whether it would be justifiable for you to remain disliking of Shayera even after learning of the terrible things that happened to her since birth."

"Yeah, I know," Diana sighed. "So what you're saying is that what I'm really afraid of is how others would perceive me and my feelings toward her as time progresses. Will they see me as having accepted her or being cold to her regardless of what happens to her and what she does?"

"There's nothing more I can say that will help you decide how to answer that question, Diana," Bruce replied. "That part is for you to figure out."

Diana thought about it for a moment and then nodded in understanding. She then looked at Batman and gave a gentle smile before standing up from her seat. She walked over to him and placed her hands upon his shoulders. "Thanks for listening, Bruce," she whispered gently before kissing him on the cheek and leaving him to his work.

Bruce showed no expression of emotion and showed no signs of removing his attention from his work. But he knew deep inside that he was going to have to face the same question he gave to John. His relationship track record was never the best and he himself is uncertain how far he and Diana will be able to go. Will it be worth it?

-

Middle of Nowhere, Egypt - Two minutes later...

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WERE GONNA GET US LOST! BUT DID I LISTEN TO MY INSTINCTS! NOOO! BECAUSE A JOURNALIST DOES HER JOB! BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M GONNA KICK THE LIVING HELL OUTTA YOU FOR GETTING US LOST!"

Jimmy Olsen tried to hide in terror within the back seat of the jeep as the enraged Lois Lane began to march after the driver, running for dear life away from the jeep and deeper into the desert. Moments later, Jimmy watched as Lois returned in great frustration to the jeep. The driver was nowhere to be found.

"Well Jimmy, I hope Perry's happy with himself," Lois said with a mixture of rage, frustration and groaning. "Our supply of food and water will only last us a good week or two and we don't know to which direction civilization leads. Not to mention the fact that the jeep is out of gas, there's a good chance robbers live in the area, AND OUR DRIVER SAW FIT TO RUNAWAY THE MINUTE WE BUST DOWN!"

Jimmy sighed as he sulked in his seat over what he was just told. "And this is the first time I left the country, too," he quietly moaned. Suddenly, a thought struck his head. "Hey... maybe Superman can save us, like seems to always do!"

Lois thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "I wish it were so easy, Jimmy," she sighed. "We're in Egypt, which is as far away from Metropolis as you can think of. Even with his super sense of hearing I doubt he would be able to hear our pleads in time before vultures start pecking away at our bones."

"Then I guess its a stroke of luck that I happen to be in the neighborhood, Ms. Lane."

Both Lois and Jimmy looked up in sheer disbelief. Very quickly, Jimmy started leaping with joy that Superman had indeed come to save the day. A smile of relief slowly began to form on Lois' face, knowing well that she shouldn't have doubted her wonderful hero to begin with.

"Maybe we should test that hearing of ours again to see if you really were," Lois smirked quietly when Superman came closer. "Even arrange another private interview, perhaps."

"An intriguing offer, I'm sure," Superman said with a smile. "So, what's a beautiful journalist like yourself and a young photographer like Jimmy doing as far away from Metropolis as you could think of?"

Quite the sense of hearing indeed, Lois thought. "Because a certain colleague of mine hasn't really been around the office as of late," she replied, slowly losing her smirk. "Since Perry's running of out international stories he wants to cover, he decided to send his best city reporter to follow the trail of what ended up being a dead end."

Superman smirked himself. "Then perhaps I could be of help," he said. "What kind of story are you chasing?"

My hero indeed, Lois thought with a smile. "My driver said he knew some secret tomb in Hamunaptra, even though the place doesn't really exist," Lois replied. "He has since abandoned us and we seem to no longer have the overseas story Perry needs for his paper."

"Hamunaptra, huh," Superman said, raising a brow. He wondered if he should say anything. Obviously he only knew of one tomb and it was better not to get any one else involved. But then, he did offer his help and he never backs away whenever he makes a deal with Lois Lane. "Just so happens I was there."

-

Chay-Ara's Tomb - Ten minutes later...

John watched as Shayera examined the illustrations upon the walls that surrounded her mother. They told a different story than those in the previous room where all the treasures were, but they told a story about Chay-Ara nonetheless. He sighed, not daring to look away from her.

The dangerous thing about two people who don't speak to one another but are aware of each others presence was that at least one of them was thinking too hard. That ended up being placed upon John as Shayera was preoccupied at the moment. And thinking was something John felt he should stop doing at the moment. Especially when the thoughts were not of the most positive nature. Suppose he tells her up front that he hadn't stopped loving her. What will he reaction be? Happy? Sad? Joyous? Scared? The most dangerous thought of all for him was the one he wanted to badly to get out of his head. What if she doesn't love him any more? What if she never did?

"Guess this is as good of a time as any for us to talk, John," Shayera said. Even though he was looking at her, he didn't pay attention to the fact that she noticed him watching and decided to break the silence. There was gentle, yet sad smile upon her face. "I mean, it's just the two of us now. Something we haven't done in a while."

"I don't want to be intruding on you if it seems like I'm doing so," John said nervously.

"I know, but I think now would be the best time," she replied. "Otherwise we might not have another chance for the two of us to be alone. Besides..." She paused for a moment, as if to look for the right words to say, and then sighed. "Besides, it'll put these at ease for me."

John waited a moment before taking a deep breath and walking over to her. Shayera just stepped over to her mother's coffin and knelt slowly to her knees, resting her back against the concrete that held her mother off the ground. John sat down next to her, leaning upon his knees. "So..." he quietly spoke. "Where do you wanna start?"

Shayera took a deep breath. "Everything going okay with you ever since that day?" she asked. "I barely got to ask the question before we got the chance to converse like this."

John thought for a moment before making a deep sigh. "No doubt you saw my change physically," he replied. "Emotionally... I guess you could say I tried to move on. Although that didn't work out so well. Bats can tell you how I had become more... isolated with the group. Not to mention I'm taking out a lot more aggression on the bad guys than I usually did. I probably am a different man than I was before." There was a sense of pain and regret in the ton of his voice, they both noted. He wondered if those were poor selection of words to say to her.

"And you and Vixen?" she asked. He couldn't figure out what kind of expression she was giving with the tone of voice she chose upon saying those words. After his reply, would it matter?

John took a little longer to think for a moment before sighing again. "We broke up the other day," he replied.

"I'm sorry," she said, slowly lowering your head. John caught this from the corner of his eye and knew he had to say something quickly or she's gonna start blaming herself.

"It was my fault, actually," he said. This prompted her to look at him with confusion and surprise. This was harder than he could've imagined as he took another deep breath and then faced her. "The thing is... I cared very deeply for the both of you. But I guess it was becoming apparent that I was more concerned about you than I was of her. And I really didn't know what to do. She finally decided to just end it before it got worse for the both of us. I'm just glad it was a good terms and not with an all out fight.

"But then... then I started to realize something. ... Even after all that we've been through... even after the whole Thanagarian invasion... even after I learned that you had another lover before me... after all that has happened... ... I never stopped loving you..."

He watched as a tear began to run down Shayera's face. She made little, if any, expression of emotion. He didn't know whether she was happy or sad. Angry or glad. Relieved or scared. The looked upon one another for what seemed like hours before she lowered her head and little and looked to one side. Shortly, though, she returned her gaze upon him.

"I've been so lost ever since that day I left you," she spoke quietly. "I've been trying so desperately to find myself. ... And at the same time... trying to decide upon my feelings. ... I was in love with two men. A man I thought cared for me deeply and another I cared for just as deeply. ... I betrayed one for the other... only to be betrayed in return. ... And I was scared, John. ... I was so scared that I hurt so bad that it would never heal..."

She stopped for a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes and then returned her gaze upon him. She saw the emotions that were bursting through his eyes in the form of tears. "I was in a position just like you, John..." she continued. "I had two men I cared for and loved dearly. ... But I didn't know how I was to choose. ... And then... and then I saw this look on your face... when I returned to the team. ... You were sitting next to Bruce and Diana... and there was this look on your face... as if you saw me die, and yet there I was alive and well..."

She didn't bother to stop the tears from running down her cheeks. Neither did John. "And now..." she continued. "... Now to hear you say... that you haven't stopped loving me..." There was a quiet pause. And then, she took a deep breath. With a smile upon her face. "It makes me so happy that I made the right decision. I love you too, John Stewart."

A smile of joyous relief came over him upon hearing those words. He wanted to say something in return, but knew that words meant nothing at this point. It was his choice to put everything on the line in the hopes that she loved him return. And the gamble paid off. Slowly and gently he lifted one hand to place upon her cheek, not caring about the tears that ran down his face.

Her heart was beating fast, but she knew it was not out of fear. In her heart she knew he was the one and she felt nothing less than excited to hear him say that he loved her, that he never did despite all the obstacles. Their other lovers, the betrayals, the heartbreak. In the end, they knew in their hearts that they were meant to be together. Just like how her father said it would be.

She placed her hands upon his shoulders, his free hand around her waist. And they slowly and gently pulled the other inward. Their eyes closed and their lips touched. It had been too long since they last shared a kiss. And the magic they felt since the first time they kissed back on the first Watchtower hadn't dwindled. In fact, it was much stronger. The kiss was passionate, yet soft and savoring. As if they wouldn't dare let this moment end. It wasn't until they heard a quiet thump that they released in surprise. The noticed that Shayera's wings were about to wrap around them when it tipped over something. The laughed lightly.

"It's okay," she whispered. "We didn't break anything." As much as they wanted to share another kiss, they decided to see what it was that she accidentally knocked over. They crawled over to see a dagger lying on the sanded ground. It seemed to have fallen from the concrete that held her mother's coffin.

"Quite an interesting dagger," John commented out of curiosity as Shayera moved closer for an inspection. "Doesn't look like the blade is made of any metal."

"It isn't," she said. "I think the dagger is made of crystal, but I'm not sure." Slowly, she inched her hand toward the hilt of the dagger. Upon grabbing it, a suddenly flash of light burst forth. Shayera didn't make a sound as she was knocked to the ground on her back.

"Shayera!" John screamed in terror. He quickly rushed over, noticing that her grip on the dagger was tight. She was still alive, or rather conscious. Yet her eyes... it was like she was in a state of suspension. As if she wasn't there. "Shayera?" he whispered as he shook her. No response. "SHAYERA!" She wasn't dead, but something was terrible wrong. "Green Lantern to Watchtower," he cried, speaking through the communications wire. "Shayera is... something's wrong with Shayera! I need assistance immediately!"

* * *

to be continued... 


	5. Chapter Five

Justice League Unlimited

Redemption

by Lord Akiyama

* * *

Author's Note: The events of this story takes place after the episode "The Cat and The Canary." Additionally, all characters are the property of DC Comics and AOL Time Warner. They are in no way being used for profit so please don't sue. And now, on with the show...

* * *

Chapter Five 

-

Dr. Fate's Tower

"And you're supposed to be Hawkgirl's father?" Aquaman said, staring at the chess board before him. He was in a losing position, trying desperately to find an opening so that he could escape. "Hard to believe based on how different you play chess from her. I was told she used to wipe the floor with Batman at this game, but I found her to be barely a challenge." He moved his piece.

"You seem so sure about that, my friend," Hawkman grinned as he studied the board a little. "In that hopes that you do not think of my comment as an excuse for defending my daughter, suppose she was actually trying to play the game as opposed to just playing the game. Would you still think of her as barely a challenge?"

Aquaman opened his mouth, but then thought better of what he was to say. He started to think about the statement for a moment and then leaned back in his chair. The old man had a point. Then he watched Katar make his move. And then proceeded to drop his mouth once again. "Check mate in four moves..." he muttered aloud. "Are you sure you never played a game of chess in your life?"

"As sure as I am that Shayera is my daughter," Hawkman chuckled. After having played seven games, he got up from his seat and stretched every inch of his body. Including his wings. "I can see why she came here for solace, Dr. Fate. Comfortable living quarters. Wonderful meditation facilities. And excellent company like your underwater friend here."

"Inza and I return nothing less than gratitude and thanks for approving of our hospitality," Fate replied, turning from the game of chess and over to one of the many book shelves along the walls. One could only imagine if he was smiling beneath the mask he wears. "We provided all the we could to assist your daughter when she needed it."

"And I return gratitude of my own for providing such," Katar said, widening his smile. "I only wish I had been here to provide her the solace she sought."

"I'm sure you two have plenty of time to be the father and daughter you should have been" Inza responded with a smile of her own, approaching her husband from behind and placing a hand upon his shoulder. "Sometimes it takes a parent to heal the wounds of a child, regardless of how."

"One moment," Fate suddenly said, placing a hand upon where his ear would be beneath the mask. A while later, he dropped his hand and looked at both Hawkman and Aquaman. "It seems we have some problems that requires our presence. Aquaman and I are needed in Australia to assist Supergirl and Captain Atom. Hawkman, you're needed back in Egypt. From what I'm being told, something has happened to your daughter."

-

Outside Hamunaptra, Egypt - Two minutes later...

"Camera's rolling, Snap," the cameraman said, turning from his seat in the passenger side of the jeep and aiming the camera at the reporter. "Whenever you're ready."

Snapper smiled and took a deep breath. The very typical practice of relaxation for all television reporters. Simple and easy, regardless of what was happening all around. "This is Snapper Carr reporting from somewhere within the heart of Egypt," he said in his best announcing voice. "We are on route to an unknown destination where Dr. Anton Hastor, one of the world's leading archeologists in the field of ancient Egyptian civilization, will provide us a live broadcast exclusive of rituals past. Dr. Hastor, what exactly will our audiences at home be viewing before them upon our arrival?"

"Well, Mr. Carr," Hastor slowly spoke as the microphone was placed before his face. "I have come upon amazing discovery. It is my belief that we have learned method which ancient Anubis priests used to attain great power."

"And we're going to bring it to you live," Carr said immediately afterward. "So don't change that channel, because our journey into history's past is just getting started. Back to you in the studio."

Not a single person in the jeep spoke for a few moments. "And... we're clear," the cameraman said. "They boys back home are telling me to remind you about giving them the heads up before doing this ritual thingy, Snap."

"You got it, buddy," Carr replied, taking a sip of his bottled water. He turned to Dr. Hastor. "What we did just now was a promo. Something like a sample to the audience watching at home what they can expect to happen once we go live."

"And people will watch, correct Mr. Carr?" Dr. Hastor asked.

"What were the numbers again for those watching us right now for our live broadcast?" Carr asked the cameraman.

"The studio's saying around two million, Snap," the cameraman replied without having to look away from making sure the camera is properly set up.

"Two million people at the very least are going to be watching, Dr. Hastor," Carr said in reassurance. "But try not to feel nervous about having that many eyes upon you, sir. Just relax and be yourself."

"Don't worry, Mr. Carr," Dr. Hastor muttered quietly, looking up in the sky. He grinned as he saw what appeared to be a few figures flying overhead, heading for the same direction. "You won't have to worry about me not being myself.

-

Chay-Ara's Tomb - Three minutes later...

"I am having trouble entering her mind," J'onn said. "It is as though she herself is trying to block me out from whatever trance she is in."

"Then don't enter her mind, J'onn," Diana said, not quite sure how to react to the situation. "Can you still read her mind?"

"I will try," J'onn replied. He closed his eyes and entered a trance of his own. John, Diana and Wally could do nothing but watch as they waited for a reply. Moments later, J'onn opened his eyes and took a heavy breath. "There is too much interference going on, though I was able to see very little of what is happening."

"Is she still trying to block you out, J'onn?" Wally asked, scratching his head in confusion. "What could possibly be happening that she'd want to keep everyone else out?"

"What exactly is going on in her mind, J'onn?" John asked in a worried tone.

"From what I saw, she is standing in the middle of the Egyptian desert," he replied. "And I was vaguely able to see civilization as it was in the ancient times."

"She is reliving her past life." The four turned to see Hawkman standing in the doorway. He gave a sigh as he slowly walked over and kneeled next to his daughter. "The dagger she is gripping is the very weapon that killed her mother. Khufu placed it upon her tomb for symbolic reasons. The believed that in the years to come Chay-Ara would return as someone else and upon touching the dagger would see their past life as her. I just didn't think it would be Shayera."

"So in her mind, she's in ancient Egypt living her mother's life?" Diana asked both in a curious and worried tone.

"Not exactly," Katar replied, shaking his head. "I talked to many about the subject and most claim that they observe their past life as opposed to living it. What Shayera is doing is watching her mother's life unfold before her. Knowing my daughter's feelings, it would be best to just leave her be and wait for her to complete her journey."

"What about the dagger?" Wally asked, pointing at the crystal dagger in Shayera's hand. "Do you want me to continue trying to remove it? It's like she has a death grip."

"Then I guess there's no point in releasing it," Hawkman sighed, gently brushing his daughter's hair. "It is acting as the key to revealing more of her mother and I doubt she would let go."

-

_Shayera's Mind - One minute later..._

_She watched in sheer horror as her mother screamed her father's name. The villain raised the crystal dagger high and his body put forth every strength into the downward stabbing. Chay-Ara ran up to stand behind her unsuspecting beloved and willing took the blade, piercing just above her chest. Shayera winced at the sight, but didn't turn away. Her mother saved her father's life._

_Katar turned as the villain stepped back in frustration and disappointment. He watched as he beloved began to sink to the floor, catching her quickly and wrapping his arm around her. He trembled as he saw the dagger buried into her body, her short screams of pain and the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. Katar cried her name before slowly turning in rage as the villain._

_Shayera watched as her father gently lay her dying mother upon the ground and leaping after the attacker. She slowly walked over and looked upon her mother suffering. But Chay-Ara was thinking less of her own life. Shayera noticed that her mother was desperately feeling the rounded shape of her stomach, feeling for signs of life within. Chay-Ara was worried for her infant's life._

_Words were spoken and Shayera turned to see the fallen villain begin muttering something in Egyptian. Her father didn't care as he raised his mace, discharging electric particles, and then violently slamming it upon the attacker's unprotected head. Shayera closed her eyes, not daring to watch the head smash on impact and splattering blood all over the room. From there, everything began to run as if in slow-motion._

_When she opened her eyes again, she watched as her father desperately cried and pleaded that his beloved not die. The tears flowing out from his eyes were of genuine sorrow and fear. He held her gently and brushed the strands of hair that covered her face. She could not hear the words, by Shayera knew they were quietly speaking to one another. And she knew her mother tell her beloved that would willingly die if it meant a chance at life for their child. Her father was scared, not knowing what to do. She then watched as her mother slowly raise a shaking hand and placing it upon her cheek, whispering for him to save their child. Katar nodded slowly, the tears running faster down his cheek, before lifting her up and dashing out of the room._

-

Hamunaptra, Egypt - Four minutes later...

"I should've known he was lying," Lois groaned before they landed enough distance away from Carr's part so that they wouldn't be spotted. "Yeah right they were just gonna film some ancient ritual Hollywood hasn't already done. No, they had to make the live broadcast from Hamunaptra!"

"Should that make a difference, Ms. Lane?" Jimmy asked, quite nervous to ask her while she was in such a foul mood to begin with. "I mean, he's doing his story and we're doing our story. Your sounding as though he's stealing our story."

"Because that's exactly what he's going to do in about an hour or so, Jimmy," Lois groaned in response, placing a hand upon her forehead. "Snapper Carr will do anything to get a story on live television first before any of the real journalists get it published a day or two late. Just another reason why I hate these pathetic television reporters!" Lois stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Besides, a certain Man of Steel was giving her a curious look. And she knows he doesn't like to see her upset. "Any way to help us out of this mess, I'm all ears Big Guy?"

Hastor grinned with pleasure as he noticed some figure hiding in the distance. No doubt the woman Lois Lane does not wish to be spotted by his reporter. Hastor turned toward Snapper so that his face would be visible in the camera's view. In a few moments, it's not going to matter whether Carr spotted her or not.

"Countdown to live broadcast," cameraman said. "In three... two..." A second later, he pointed his finger at the smiling reporter. The red light upon the camera lit up and they were now visible on television screens watching.

"This is Snapper Carr reporting from the heart of Egypt," the reporter spoke in his best announcing voice. "Where I am standing at this very moment is a place thought to be nothing more than the fictitious imagination of a filmmaker. This is Hamunaptra, the tomb of kings. And it is here that Dr. Anton Hastor will provide us with a live broadcast of a ritual once performed in the ancient times." Carr turned to face Hastor and handed him the microphone. "Dr. Hastor, if you will."

Hastor gladly took the microphone from Carr's hand. "Thank you, Mr. Carr," he said. "The ancient priests to the God Anubis performed sacred ritual that grant great power to followers. Powerful enough to dethrone the weak Pharaohs. Time has since removed the kings of old. But great power is still attainable." Carr began to notice a change in the tone of Hastor's voice. He also began to see slow changes in his appearance.

"Ancient priests of Anubis are rare and difficult to come upon," Hastor continued. "But you are fortunate enough to witness the reincarnation of one. In this life, I am archeologist Anton Hastor. But in my past life, I was Hath-Set. Highest ranking of the priests and once the personal advisor to the Pharaoh Khufu." Carr's suspicions of Hastor's change came to fruition. Quite suddenly, Hastor's skin began to change color and the clothes upon his body started to crimple up as though it were dissolving paper.

A flash of light sparked, causing Carr and his crew to practically fall to the ground. When Carr looked back up, he didn't see Dr. Anton Hastor. Instead, he saw a creature very much like those fictitious imaginations from a movie. A real life demon of the dead. If he wasn't so scared out of his mind, he would've thought of this as excellent television.

"Uh, Ms. Lane," Jimmy said in complete, utter horror, tugging at Lois' clothing.

"What now Jimmy!" Lois responded. She turned and all the anger she had in her body vanished, looking upon the sight Jimmy saw. Superman turned his attention as well and was rather surprised. "I think those guys need your help more than I do, Big Guy," she managed to say. Less than a second later, Lois and Jimmy felt a gust of wind blow past them as Superman flew forward to save the day.

The creature turned with a grin at the in-coming super hero and chuckled. "Right on schedule," he said. Before any one knew it, the creature spun in place and clutched Superman's face with one hand. With a thrust, he slammed The Man of Steel upon the ground with incredible force and power.

Superman moaned for a quick second before leaping off his back and into battle with the creature. He landed a right hook, then a left, followed by an uppercut. He watched as the creature staggered backward before stopping in place. And laughing. Superman didn't take any chances to figure out why the creature found pleasure in taking a beating and zoomed in for another attack. The creature made a scream with a sheer gust of energy and power emanating from his mouth, causing Superman to lose balance and fly back. Seconds later, he slammed hard into one of the few pieces of architecture that stood in this desolate location.

"Tell me we still have a live feed," Carr finally said to his cameraman.

The cameraman checked his equipment. "The signal isn't at its best, but we're still airing it," he responded. "Everyone back home is seeing this, Snap."

"Jimmy," Lois said in a worried tone. "You better start taking those pictures."

"But it looks like Snapper's crew are still broadcasting, Ms. Lane," Jimmy replied, though holding his camera up in preparation for taking pictures.

"It doesn't matter, Jimmy," Lois responded, though she didn't sound convinced with herself. "We're the only two reporters on the scene and we're not gonna let those TV buffoons be the only ones with the exclusive. Besides, any picture you take will speak a thousand more words than what they air on television."

-

Chay-Ara's Tomb - Thirty seconds later...

Hawkman stood up and looked toward the pathway that led to the entrance. The others were able to get a good look at his face despite the top half being covered by his mask. It was a sign of fear. "It can't be," he muttered.

"Superman to all available... AAAHHH!" The others listened in to the communications wire, hearing thuds and hits that sounded very much like the impact landing upon their comrade. "I need assistance in Egypt... AAAHHH! I don't think I can hold out by myself any..." The line went dead.

"Superman?" Diana cried, tapping on her link hoping to hear anything else. "He's still here in Egypt. But how?"

"There's a strange energy presence," Hawkman continued to mutter. "I haven't..." He paused for a moment before he tightened his grip on his mace. "My beloved's murderer has been reincarnated." He pushed off and began to fly outward. "Hurry! He's picked your friend as a sacrifice!"

In sudden fear, everyone bolted to their feet and started to follow Hawkman. John, however, hesitated when he remembered Shayera was still in her trance. "Wait!" he called. "What about Shayera!"

Hawkman stopped in place, allowing Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Flash to bypass him. He started to think hard for a moment before turning to John. "I placed my faith in these traps Khufu designed thousands of years ago to protect by beloved," he said. "I shall continue to do so for my daughter. But if we both don't go now, Superman will be killed." With that, he turned and flew off.

John thought about what was said and nodded. Before following, however, he turned to Shayera. He knelt down and placed a kiss upon her cheek. "I'll be right outside," he said. "See you when I get back." He slowly turned and made his way to join the others.

-

The Watchtower - Fifteen seconds later...

"This is it?" Batman said in disappointment as Green Arrow and Black Canary arrived to join him in the teleporter. "Where is everyone else?"

"They're either in Australia, Northern Europe, Chile, or a number of other locations in the universe, Bats," Arrow replied, making sure his equipment is secured. "In other words, they're all busy on assignments that need attention as well."

"Fair enough," Batman replied, though he didn't have to like it. "Superman rarely calls for an emergency backup of this nature. Luckily we have the other original members of the League joining us down there."

"Do you have any clue what's happening?" Canary asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Batman replied as the three were teleported out of the Watchtower. For the first time, the second constructed home base of The Justice League was completely empty.

-

_Shayera's Mind - Thirty seconds later..._

_Shayera winced as the ship crashed hard upon the familiar surface of Thanagar. She turned to see several armed guards rushing to the scene, not knowing what to expect. Members of the high council also came, aware that this was one of their ships and demanded explanation. They got their answer as a tired and worn out Katar Hol emerged from the wreckage. And the Thanagarians were literally shocked when he carried a human in his arms. One who was dying and pregnant._

_Katar stood firm as the weapons remained in place and the expressions of the council members turned from shock to complete utter anger. His eyes showed little if any signs of fear as the council marched toward him. He held the dying Chay-Ara closer when the Thanagarians came to a halt._

_"How dare you return to us in this manner, Katar Hol," the head councilman spoke, the anger and frustration oozing from his voice. "You crash our ship, the only one with the capacity to travel beyond light speed mind you, and return with an alien. And what's more, you impregnated her! You should never have returned, Katar!"_

_"I never planned to, your highness," he responded, seething through clenched teeth. "But I had no other choice. The technology of her planet is far too primitive for the help needed."_

_"You know full well what the does and does not permit," one of the other councilmen spoke. "You can grovel all you want, but we will not allow any procedure to save this woman!"_

_"Nothing can save her, majesties," Katar said in anger. "I returned because this is the only planet with the technology to save our child."_

_"And that is supposed to make a difference, Katar Hol?" a third councilman laughed. "Regardless of the fact that your the father, the child is still an alien! And the law says..." He stopped upon seeing the hand of the head councilman raise. A moment later, the council formed a meeting amongst themselves. Shayera, noticing that she was nothing more than memory and that no one could see her, moved in closer to hear what they were saying._

_"This could actually work to our advantage," the head councilman said with a grin. "If the child has more Thanagarian genes than alien, it would be a terrible waste to rid of such promising life."_

_"What do you mean promising?" the fourth councilman protested. "No matter how much this child would pass as a Thanagarian, we would still know that it is alien."_

_"Exactly," the head councilman said. "No one else would know. Not even the child itself." The rest of the council were unsure as to what their superior meant. Then it suddenly began to make sense. "We take the child and exile Katar. If he's smart, he'll die under whatever aging conditions the alien planet provides it inhabitants. We raise the child in our elite, send it back to the alien world as a spy and conquer it."_

_"It is a good plan with only one fault, sir," the second councilman spoke. "Suppose the child doesn't pass as a Thanagarian. What do we do with it?"_

_"The point of exiling Katar is to strip him of everything," the head councilman sneered. "That includes having and caring for this child. If it passes off more as an alien, why give him any luxury of having this child regardless?" The council thought about this for a moment then grinned along with their leader. What is the ending an infant life to them if it meant getting rid of Katar Hol for good?_

_Shayera clenched her fists with a mixture of rage, sorrow and betrayal. To her about this was one thing, but to actually see it..._

-

Hamunaptra, Egypt - Five minutes later...

Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary just barely ducked in time as Flash went flying over their heads and into the ground with a thump. After glancing over to see Wally's condition, they turned back just as Hawkman appeared on the scene. The creature barely got its hands up to grab hold of the mace despite the amount of electrical discharge flowing out from the head of the mace.

"I stopped you once before, Hath-Set," Hawkman spoke through clenched teeth. "This time, I'm making sure incarnation doesn't save you from eternal death."

"We'll see about that, creature of Ra," Hath-Set said. He put forth all his strength to throw Hawkman off him. He then stepped back and threw a punch toward the winged hero. His fist actually detached from his body and flew right into Hawkman's jaw. Katar was knocked to the ground just as the hand reattached itself to Hath-Set's arm.

"This is not going our way on bit, Bats," Green Lantern said as he flew down with Wonder Woman to join the others. "This thing is hell bent on destroying Superman and he's making us look powerless against him. Even Hawkman is having a hard time taking him down and he's the one who rid the world of him the first time."

"Even so, our combined efforts are wearing him down," Batman responded as he watched Superman fight his attacker. "All we need to do is keep on him and we'll take him down eventually." Moments later, they watched as Hath-Set knocked Superman right through the remains of another piece of architecture. Suddenly, Hath-Set knelt down and muttered something in Egyptian. The sky began to grow dark and something was moving about the landscape.

"Shadow thieves," Wonder Woman gasped. She thought for a moment and then came to a realization. "Hera help us! All of this was a set up from day one! This creature was testing us to see how the League would respond with or without Superman!"

"Well this is just peachy," Flash complained. "So how are we gonna do this? Obviously we all can't attack this guy, or else we're gonna get knocked to the ground by these other guys."

Batman examined the situation for a moment while Ollie launched arrows at any incoming attackers. "Superman and Hawkman can't fight this thing alone," he deduced. "J'onn, Diana and Lantern will assist them while the rest of us try to control these things. Go, now!" The three assigned to aid Superman and Hawkman nodded and flew off. "How many arrows do you have that can project light, Ollie?" Batman asked.

"Five," Arrow replied, launching a Sucker Punch Arrow. "But I'm also limited to the amount of additional arrows I brought so we better use those Light Arrows carefully, Bruce."

"Agreed," Batman replied, giving a roundhouse kick to the nearest shadow thief. "I have four light bombs, so will alternate every five minutes. When you're down to your last arrow, use it only when you have no other choice, Ollie."

"So this is what a real Justice League battle is like," Canary said as she started fending herself from a series of shadow thieves. "Makes me real happy I joined the team."

"You and me both, baby," Ollie replied as he launched a Light Arrow into the air. It would be five minutes before Batman triggered a light bomb. A long five minutes.

"We're losing reception with every passing minute, Snap," the cameraman said, keeping the camera pointed at Superman and Hawkman's battle with Hath-Set. "But we're still broadcasting live. I just don't know how much longer."

"Keep it running as long as you can, buddy," Carr said, watching the fight before him with awe and disbelief. "This could be the most important broadcast any reporter could ever dream of. For good or bad."

"Take only the shots that need to be taken, Jimmy," Lois sighed with worry. She quietly kept to herself the fear she was feeling for her hero, The Man of Steel. The man who had stolen her heart countless times. "Please don't die for real," she quietly whispered to herself.

-

_Shayera's Mind - Thirty minutes later..._

_Few if any ever got the opportunity to see their own birth take place. Shayera's birth took place thousands of years ago, decreasing any chance for her to witness the event. The never imagined venturing to the past and watch as her father became the first being to welcome her to the living. She almost shed a tear as she watched her parents smiling with joy at their child's voice, screaming with life._

_Shayera then watched as Chay-Ara made some kind of motion to Katar with a smile. She was losing strength. Katar tried to smile as well, slowly and gently handing the newly born child into the arms of his beloved. Shayera watched with awe and surprise. Her father made no mention of this. A realization came over her. Perhaps her father figured she would relive her mother's life, and there was a good reason why he didn't say anything about this. He wanted her to see for herself her mother's only moments with her._

_"My little Ament," Chay-Ara whispered to the baby, a gentle smile on her face. "Can you see me? Can you hear me, my love? I'm your mother." Shayera smiled as she watched her infant self move about in her mother's arms. "Though you may not see me... though you may not hear my voice... we will never be apart, my little Ament. I will always be there to guide you. No matter the hardships... no matter the troubles... I will always be there to help you. No matter what happens... no matter what you do... I will always be there to keep you from harm."_

_Shayera walked over to her mother and infant self. She then began to notice that everything else around them disappeared into darkness. All that remained were the three of them. She turned her attention back to her mother speaking to her infant self. "You are special, my love. Born out of the love between two special people. And it is because you are special that you shall embark on a difficult journey. You may not see my face... you may not hear my voice... but I will be there. To protect and to support you. You will encounter times of doubt and uncertainty... moments of pain and suffering... when the road has too many paths._

_"But fear not, my little Ament. You will not be alone when these challenges come before you. For I will be with you, experiencing every step... every breath... every touch. I will be there to help you see the light... I will be there to help you find the way... I will be there to make everything right. No matter the struggle... no matter the heartache... no matter the costs. Even when all seems lost... I will reveal the answers. Worry not about the path behind you... the uncertainties... the sacrifices... the sorrow. Look ahead to the destination before you... the comfort... the hope... the love. The past ends... but the future begins. And the present builds that future._

_"My life will end... and yours will begin, my little Ament. But I will not be gone... even if I am not there. For I am there... in your heart. To keep you brave and strong... never afraid and weak. You are special, my love. No matter what happens... good or ill... you will always be who you are. And you are my little Ament."_

_Silence._

_Shayera watched as Chay-Ara and her infant self faded into the darkness. She did not cry, not even form a tear beneath her eyes. Her mother's word were embedded into her heart. A warm feeling she felt from within. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smiling with relief and content. When she opened her eyes, a glint of light appeared before her. It began to grow. She made no change of emotion. She was not afraid. She was ready for whatever was about to happen._

_All that surrounded her was light, though in was not blinding. She looked ahead, not behind. Slowly, something began to appear from nothingness. And then, it was clear. It looked very much like her Hawkgirl helmet. But the design was different. Her smile widened as she slowly raised her hands and took hold of the helmet. She closed her eyes once more before gently placing it over her head. When she opened her eyes, everything became clearer. Her smile was wider than ever before._

-

Hamunaptra, Egypt - Five minutes later...

"Last light bomb!" Batman called as he launched it into the air. Seconds later, it exploded and shined light upon the land. The shadow thieves were visible under the light as Flash and Black Canary got to work physically and Ollie launching his arrows. Batman got to work taking down the opposition, but even he knew this was going on much longer than they could handle. And Hath-Set was still fighting strong.

Hath-Set tossed Wonder Woman right into Martian Manhunter, sending both of them into the last of the architectural structures that remained. Hawkman charged at the villain and swung his mace at the right moment. Except that the reincarnated priest clutched the head of the mace and swung the winged hero into the unsuspecting Green Lantern. The barely touched the ground when Hath-Set slammed the in-coming Superman upon the desert sand.

"Enough of this futile nonsense!" the creature yelled. Two crystal blades shot out from within his forearms and he gripped the handles just as quickly. "Great God of Anubis, I give thee a worthy sacrifice for GREAT POWER!"

"Ollie!" Batman called out to Arrow. "The others can't stop him! You have to fire something quick!"

Ollie turned and as quickly as he could in his head calculated the distance and speed. "I won't be able to hit him in time!"

"Don't die don't die don't die don't die don't die..." Lois whispered quietly as a tear ran down her cheek.

Hath-Set raised the two blades high into the air and swiftly brought them down. A sound of explosion was made and the villain screamed, being launched over Superman and upon the sand covered ground. The blades were knocked out of his hands upon impact, buried by the winds of sand below from behind. No traces of blood upon them. He looked turned in anger and saw light flashing from behind Superman. And then there was the figure of a woman. With wings.

"Is that who I think it is?" Carr cried with microphone in hand. He used his hand to shield the light and get a better view of the savior. "Superman has just been saved by what appears to be Hawk..."

"We lost the feed!" the cameraman cried. Snapper turned to see the red light upon the camera going dead.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Carr cried.

"I hope you didn't listen to me and brought another roll of film, Jimmy," Lois said, staring in awe as the woman standing tall behind the saved Man of Steel.

"Are you kidding?" Jimmy said, staring in awe just as well. "Mr. Kent told me to always bring more than what the story requires. So I brought another twenty rolls."

"Twenty rolls?" Lois repeated, not removing her sight from the savior. "I could marry Clark Kent for that!"

The light began to fade as all turned their attention toward the heroine. John looked in utter disbelief. And yet he was also happy and relieved at the same time. With the mace stretched out pointing toward the fallen villain, she stood proud and strong. Shayera Hol. No, not Shayera Hol. Hawkgirl. But then, looking at the costume and mask... and the short sword held in her other hand... this was not the same Hawkgirl. Yet there was no denying the posture... the body... the red hair. No, this was not a return. This was a rebirth.

"No," Hath-Set said, shaking his head upon seeing the figure. "No... this cannot be..."

"You seek the power of the Gods," the savior said, her voice noble and strong. "Perhaps you should meet them instead." She flew off from her spot and charged after the villain. She roared as she swung her mace. Hath-Set tried to catch it, but the force was too much. He was knocked off the ground and launched several feet to the left. The woman turned and flew after him.

"Don't stop taking the pictures, Jimmy," Lois said, her attention upon the battle with excitement upon her face. "Keep that camera of yours snapping!" Jimmy did as he was told with a smile on his face.

Katar watched is awe as his daughter did battle with his beloved's murderer. He marveled at the sight as she swung her short sword, creating a slashing cut upon Hath-Set's body. He smiled and knew immediately that her blade was no ordinary one. Like the head of her mace, the blade was made of nth metal.

Batman and his crew watched in disbelief as the shadow thieves began to dwindle rapidly in number. As if the power the villain had cast was failing. The darkness in the sky began to fade and light was shining through. The shadow thieves made no attempt at fight and ran, looking for dark shelters to hide. They turned their attention to the only battle that remained in Hamunaptra.

Hath-Set made a desperate attempt to fight back, successfully knocking the short sword out of the heroine's hand. He blocked a swipe attempt from the in-coming mace when suddenly he heard a noise and grunted in shock. The fighting had stopped at the sound of piercing flesh. Slowly, he looked down to see her gripping the hilt of a blade that dug through his chest and into his heart. He quickly recognized the design of the hilt. It was the crystal dagger he held thousands of years ago. He looked into the eyes of his killer, shock and surprise painted across his face.

"This is for my mother, you heartless son of a bitch," she whispered with a smile. She pushed the blade further up, causing Hath-Set to scream in terror.

Energy began to emanate from his body, his screams echoing throughout the land. Light burst through any openings within his body and every inch of it began to sink inward as if winds pushed them. With clenched teeth, she held her grip. She watched as all that was of Hath-Set were sucked further and further inward. When the last of his body, a skull dry of flesh and blood, vanished within, all that remained was the light beaming from the crystal blade. She raised it high and cried a loud roar as a wave of energy discharged from the dagger. All who were watching were literally knocked to the ground. Soon the light vanished and she dropped to one knee. She closed her eyes as a gust of wind engulfed her.

_Shayera opened her eyes. She examined her surroundings. It was as if she was floating within the vastness of space. She was standing and her clothes were the garbs of Pharaoh's servant girls. She smiled as she looked up, seeing the appearance of her mother. Steady and firm, she walked closer before stopping within an inch. Chay-Ara smiled as their gaze met._

_"My little Ament," Chay-Ara said, gently placing a hand upon her daughter's cheek. "You have grown so well... so wonderfully... so beautiful. You truly are the child of my beloved and I."_

_"Is this real?" Shayera asked, hoping within that it truly was. "I am seeing your face... hearing your voice?"_

_"What is 'real?'" Chay-Ara spoke, retaining her gentle smile and brushing the strands of hair that covered her daughter's face. "A question I once asked the Gods when I left one life and entered the next. My little Ament... it is belief that creates what is real. What do you believe?"_

_Shayera took a deep breath and widened her smile. "I believe that this is real," he replied. "That I am seeing your face... hearing your voice... feeling your touch." She paused for a moment, letting the presence of them being together engulf her feelings. "I thought of a question, though now I know the answer."_

_Chay-Ara giggled. "You were about to ask if we would ever meet again," she said._

_Shayera nodded. "And I know we will," he responded. "For we were never apart. You were always there for me, even when I didn't believe. And you shall continue to always be there for me. To guide me... show me the way... reveal the path before me."_

_"The past ends..." Chay-Ara began._

_"... and the future begins," Shayera ended with a giggle._

_Chay-Ara gently placed her arms around her daughter and embraced her tightly. Shayera returned the hug and closed her eyes. "You are special, my love," Chay-Ara spoke. "No matter what happens... good or ill... you will always be who you are. And you are my little Ament."_

_Shayera took a deep breath and let the feeling bring warmth within her, her eyes remain closed. "I love you, mom," she whispered._

_"I love you too, Shayera," her mother replied._

She opened her eyes to see John kneeling before her, his hands gently placed upon her arms. She smiled as they both slowly rose to their feet. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hey yourself," John whispered back with a smile. They each took a deep breath before he took a step back and removed his hands from her arms. He retained his smile as he turned, showing her the attention she brought upon herself. The Justice League, smiles upon their faces, greeting her with gratitude and warmth. Each one giving her praise after praise of her heroism and bravery. Then came Wonder Woman.

Diana took a deep breath before smiling. "So," she said. "Think you over did it a little... Birdnose?"

She laughed. "I'm sure not as much as you do," she replied. They clasped hands, giving and accepting forgiveness.

She then turned her attention to a smiling Katar Hol. She took one step back, and then gently approached her father. They each took a deep breath. "I know exactly what you're gonna say," she said with a light laugh. "But I think its better if I heard it any way."

Katar chuckled and then widen his smile. "I'm proud of you," he said. They wrapped their arms around one another for a deep embrace. The League watched with joyous smiles upon their faces. Father and daughter together at last.

Lois walked up slowly to Superman with a smile on their face. "Congratulations, Big Guy," she said. She watched as her hero shook his head, still retaining his smile.

"Every praise should be given to her," he said. "She earned it. Deserves it." He sighed as he turned his head to one side. "If only the public would be more open to her as we have become."

"I know," Lois sighed. "Carr's crying like a baby, his live broadcast turned off just as she arrived on the scene." There was a moments pause before an idea came to her head. She turned to face The Man of Steel with a grin on her face. "You let me have a sit-down interview with her and I'll make sure she wins their hearts by week's end."

* * *

to be continued... 

Author's Note: I probably felt the need to address this as I'm sure some readers my not understand without explanation.

_Ament - Ancient Egyptian Hawk Goddess. She lived in a tree at the edge of the desert where she watched the gates of the underworld and welcomed the newly deceased. She appears with an ostrich feather on her head._


	6. Chapter Six

Justice League Unlimited

Redemption

by Lord Akiyama

* * *

Author's Note: The events of this story takes place after the episode "The Cat and The Canary." Additionally, all characters are the property of DC Comics and AOL Time Warner. They are in no way being used for profit so please don't sue. And now, on with the show...

* * *

Chapter Six

-

Metropolis

Clark Kent looked the door to his apartment and descended down the stairs, whistling along the way. He said his usual good mornings to the neighbors going about their daily routines. As he exited the building, he watched as practically every living being on two legs crowded any and all newspaper stands.

He walked over to the nearest one and tapped the shoulders of one of the civilians. "Excuse me, sir," he asked kindly. "What seems to be happening?"

"You must be living under a rock not to know," the civilian replied with a chuckle and nothing more. Clark privately grinned as he left the civilians be and made his way to work. With the crowds surrounding the newspaper stands as opposed to the sidewalks and streets, it was much easier for him to arrive at operations building for The Daily Planet.

Wine bottles were being passed around to those not working on stories that needed to meet the day's deadline. Smiles and happy faces all around as Clark slowly made his way to his desk, stationed next to that of one Lois Lane. His private grin was wider as he sat down to see the smile on her face as her attention was upon the morning's front story.

"I haven't seen a party like this in quite a long time, Lois," Clark asked. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the crowded newspaper stands, now would it?"

"Trucks are on their way to drop off the fifth printing of today's paper," Lois said, retaining her smile and looking up from the paper laid out upon her desk. "When was the last time we produced a story big enough for a fifth printing?"

"When we broke the Superman story," Clark said in a geekish tone. "But that didn't reach a fifth printing until three o'clock. It's barely eight in the morning. What story could possibly be bigger than the first Superman piece?"

Lois' smiled widened as she took the paper off her desk and handed it to Clark. "This one, Smallville," she said. Clark gently took the paper from her hand and adjusted his glasses to read the headline printed in one of the biggest text.

**HAWKWOMAN: _ Daily Planet_ exclusive chronicling the rebirth and redemption of a hero amongst heroes**

by Lois Lane

Photographs by Jimmy Olsen

-

John Stewart's Apartment - Fifteen hours later...

"Superman said they had to stop after the seventh printing," John chuckled as he held up the paper. "Shattering the record time for his first story to sell out by five hours."

Shayera giggled as she adjusted herself and then sighed. "It's amazing how much one person can do," she said with a smile, looking upon the two-days-old photograph of her used for the front cover. Two days since she was no longer Hawkgirl or Shayera Hol of Thanagar. Two days since she was reborn as Hawkwoman. "And they say you need to be a super hero to create change of such numeric proportions."

John chuckled some more as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her gently. "What's more amazing is the idea of you becoming a bigger hero than even Superman," he suggested. They both started to laugh, rocking one another gently. Their foreheads gently touched as they continued to laugh before John slowly placed the paper upon the table lamp next to the bed.

They had left the Watchtower early for the night, but decided to stay awake and lie in bed as they watched the various news reports on television about Lois Lane's record-shattering news report. John had stripped down to his boxers whereas Shayera decided upon a silk, green nightgown he bought her the other day, a gift he decided to give her even though they had just restarted their relationship.

When they finally stopped laughing, they both gave a long sigh and locked eyes upon once another with smiles upon their face. Every once in a while one would give a light laugh. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look in green?" John said after a quiet moment. Shayera lightly giggled and gently smacked his chest.

"Of course you have, John," he replied. "You said that after I started wearing my new battle costume, you goof." They gently laughed some more and rocked back and forth. Their laughing slowed to a stop as she wrapped her around loosely around his neck. Their eyes remained lock as she gave a sigh, fading her smile a little. "Were you able to talk to Mari?" she asked, breaking the silence between them.

John nodded, his smile fading a little as well. "The impression I got was that she's cool with everything," he replied, sighing once again. "I dunno. I think I might have to engage in a much longer talk with her."

"Or maybe its time Mari and I got to talk to one another," Shayera said, lifting her smile a little and placing a hand gently upon his cheek. "You're carrying too much weight over this, John. Let me help you get through this just as you helped me find myself." She watched as John smile lifted a little before the two leaned in for a gentle kiss.

They lightly laughed before kissing again, their lips pressed against each longer than the previous kiss. Afterward, they rolled slowly and gently until Shayera was lying on her back and John holding himself above her. Another light laugh escaped their lips followed by another pause of silence. Shayera then brought one hand over the scar upon John's head, gently tracing every inch of its presence with her index finger.

"Remember when you told me about your trip to the future last night, John?" she quietly asked. Her lover nodded as she gave a light giggle. "I had a dream about it last night. But not quite how it was the way you saw it. Instead, it is maybe a few years from now. When Rex is only a baby."

John's smile widened, lying himself slowly next to her as she shifted her body to face him. "Tell me more," he said quietly.

"We are somewhere peaceful... quiet," she gently spoke. "A place where the forests breath of life. Almost isolated from civilization, but not quite. And in our home, we welcome our son to the world. Together, my love."

John's smile widened as he gently brushed the strands of hair covering her beautiful face. "Maybe we'll share the same dream tonight," he quietly said.

"I know we will," Shayera whispered, leaning in to kiss John on the lips once more.

-

Chay-Ara's Tomb - Four hours earlier...

Katar placed the crystal dagger upon his beloved's coffin. The same crystal dagger that killed her. The same crystal dagger their daughter used to avenge her. He took a deep sigh as his fingers gently brushed against the Egyptian craved likeness of Chay-Ara with a light smile upon his face. Moments later, he turned and flew off, by passing all the traps that had protected her well enough and exiting the tomb.

He kept himself in flight to make sure the door closed properly and not figures made a dash for the entrance. Content as his beloved's tomb was secured, he departed the desolate landscapes of Hamunaptra. Moments later, he arrived upon a quiet desert spot a ways away from any eyes looking out from Cairo. He landed gently before turning east to watch the sun rising from the distance.

Katar removed his mask to watch the piercing sun with clear eyes and took a deep breath. The texture of the sky as beautiful as he remembered thousands of years ago. His smile widened, closing his eyes and letting the gentle wind below in his face. He moved his hand to place it upon that of his beloved. Chay-Ara's spirit resting her head upon his shoulder as they watched the sunrise together.

* * *

the end

Thanks to every one who took the time to read this story. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

As for sequel...

... I have a pretty good idea what to write next.

Stay tuned...


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